title: Characteristics of sex partners and sexual partnership correlates of inconsistent condom use among male injection drug users in India.
abstract: Previous studies have established the risky behaviors of IDUs in India, and that IDUs are sexually active; however, there is a need to better understand the nature of sexual partnerships of IDUs. A total of 783 (Delhi) and 766 (Imphal) male IDUs were recruited into the study through respondent-driven sampling. We examined characteristics of sex partners of male IDUs and individual and sexual partnership characteristics associated with unprotected sex in Delhi and Imphal. While 16.8% of sexual partnerships in Delhi were male-to-male, there were almost no male-to-male partnerships in Imphal. The majority of partners of male IDUs in Delhi (82.5%) and Imphal (92.3%) do not inject drugs, with the exception of male partners of male IDUs in Delhi. Commercial partners (females: 58.3%; males: 71.3%) were the most common type of sex partners of male IDUs in Delhi, while regular partners (65.2%) were the most common type of sex partners in Imphal. In Delhi, characteristics of sex partners significantly associated with unprotected sex were being male/transgender (AOR 2.2; 95% CI: 1.2-4.0), being a regular (AOR 5.1; 95% CI: 2.8-9.4) or non-regular partner (AOR 2.7; 95% CI: 1.7- 4.5), and sharing needles/syringes with the index IDU (AOR 2.8; 95% CI: 1.4-5.3). In Imphal, partner characteristics associated with unprotected sex were being a regular (AOR 10.1; 95% CI: 41-25.1) or non-regular partner (AOR 3.4; 95% CI: 1.5-7.6), and living outside of town or state (AOR 3.3; 95% CI: 1.2-9.6). Enhanced understanding of disassortative sexual mixing and context of unprotected sex within sexual partnerships may enhance sexual risk reduction interventions for IDUs.
authors.forename: Waimar
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tun
authors.forename: Aruna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Apicella
authors.forename: Yumnam
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shasikumar Singh
authors.forename: Dean
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lewis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017280:Condoms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055030:Drug Users / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D012309:Risk-Taking; D060386:Sex Workers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012747:Sexual Partners; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology*; D047568:Unsafe Sex; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data