title: Gender differences between predictors of HIV status among PWID in Ukraine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The HIV epidemic in Ukraine is among the largest in Europe. While traditionally the epidemic has spread through injection risk behavior, sexual transmission is becoming more common. Previous research has found that women in Ukraine have higher rates of HIV and engage in more HIV risk behavior than men. This study extended that work by identifying risk factors that differentially predict men and women's HIV status among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Ukraine.
  
  
  METHODS
  From July 2010 to July 2013, 2480 sexually active PWID with unknown HIV status were recruited from three cities in Ukraine through street outreach. The average age was 31 years old.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women, who made up twenty-eight percent of the sample, had higher safe sex self-efficacy (p<.01) and HIV knowledge (p<.001) than men, but scored higher on both the risky injection (p<.001) and risky sex (p<.001) composite scores than men. Risky sex behaviors were associated with women's HIV status more than men's. We also report results identifying predictors of risky injection and sex behaviors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gender-specific interventions could address problem of HIV risk among women who inject drugs in a country with a growing HIV epidemic. Our findings suggest specific ways in which intervention efforts might focus on groups and individuals who are at the highest risk of contracting HIV (or who are already HIV positive) to halt the spread of HIV in Ukraine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO, United States. Electronic address: karen.corsi@ucdenver.edu.
authors.forename: K F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Corsi
authors.affiliation: Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy, Kiev, Ukraine.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dvoryak
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO, United States.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garver-Apgar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO, United States.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO, United States.
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Brewster
authors.affiliation: Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy, Kiev, Ukraine.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lisovska
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO, United States.
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Booth
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D021841:Safe Sex / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020377:Self Efficacy; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014455:Ukraine / Q000453:epidemiology; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: HIV; Injection drug use; PWID; Sex risk; Ukraine