Comparing sexual risks and patterns of alcohol and drug use between injection drug users (IDUs) and non-IDUs who report sexual partnerships with IDUs in St. Petersburg, Russia.
BACKGROUND
To date, the great majority of Russian HIV infections have been diagnosed among IDUs and concerns about the potential for a sexual transmission of HIV beyond the IDU population have increased. This study investigated differences in the prevalence of sexual risk behaviors between IDUs and non-IDUs in St. Petersburg, Russia and assessed associations between substance use patterns and sexual risks within and between those two groups.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey data and biological test results from 331 IDUs and 65 non-IDUs who have IDU sex partners were analyzed. Multivariate regression was employed to calculate measures of associations.


RESULTS
IDUs were less likely than non-IDUs to report multiple sexual partners and unprotected sex with casual partners. The quantity, frequency and intensity of alcohol use did not differ between IDUs and non-IDUs, but non-IDUs were more likely to engage in alcohol use categorized as risky per the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT-C). Risky sexual practices were independently associated with monthly methamphetamine injection among IDUs and with risky alcohol use among non-IDUs. Having sex when high on alcohol or drugs was associated with unprotected sex only among IDUs.


CONCLUSIONS
Greater prevalence of sexual risk among non-IDUs who have IDU sex partners compared to IDUs suggests the potential for sexual transmission of HIV from the high-prevalence IDU population into the general population. HIV prevention programs among IDUs in St. Petersburg owe special attention to risky alcohol use among non-IDUs who have IDU sex partners and the propensity of IDUs to have sex when high on alcohol or drugs and forgo condoms.
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. nadia.abdala@yale.edu
Nadia
N
Abdala
Edward
E
White
Olga V
OV
Toussova
Tatiana V
TV
Krasnoselskikh
Sergei
S
Verevochkin
Andrei P
AP
Kozlov
Robert
R
Heimer
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012426:Russia; D012747:Sexual Partners; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous; D047568:Unsafe Sex; D055815:Young Adult