title: Childhood Sexual Abuse and Syringe Sharing Among People Who Inject Drugs.
abstract: Childhood sexual abuse is associated with adverse health outcomes. However, the impact of sexual abuse on HIV risk behaviors among people who inject drugs (IDU) has not been thoroughly characterized. We therefore sought to identify whether childhood sexual abuse was associated with syringe sharing among a sample of IDU in Vancouver, Canada. We assessed sexual abuse among two cohorts of IDUs via the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and syringe sharing. In total, 1380 IDU were included in the study, and 426 (30.9 %) IDU reported childhood sexual abuse. Syringe sharing (Adjusted Odds Ratio = 1.83, 95 % Confidence Interval 1.28-2.60) remained independently associated with childhood sexual abuse after adjustment for potential confounders. Given that a history of childhood sexual abuse appears to be elevated among IDU who engage in HIV risk behaviors (i.e., syringe sharing), HIV prevention efforts should include efforts to address historical trauma in this population.
authors.affiliation: British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608 - 1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6, Canada, wlee@cfenet.ubc.ca.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Lianping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ti
authors.forename: Brandon D L
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: Huiru
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Evan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kerr
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055030:Drug Users; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016485:Needle Sharing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires