title: Sexual identity and its relationship to injecting in a sample of disadvantaged young drug users.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  People who are new to injecting are at the highest risk of acquiring blood-borne viruses, and certain other characteristics, such as sexual identity, have been known to further heighten this risk. We investigate whether disadvantaged drug-using young people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or who identify as other sexual identity (GLBO) are more likely to have ever injected drugs compared with their heterosexual peers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Convenience sampling was employed across 15 youth services in metropolitan Sydney. Respondents were required to be 16-24 years of age, to have used an illicit drug, to have been exposed to injecting through social networks and been socially disadvantaged in the past 12 months. Participants self-completed a survey using touch screen laptops.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In a sample of 250 young people, GLBO participants more commonly reported ever injecting drugs [37.1%, confidence interval (CI) 21.5-55.1% vs. 12.3%, CI 8.1-17.4%] or injecting drugs in the past 12 months [31.4%, CI 16.9-49.3% vs. 5.7%, CI 2.9-9.6%] compared with participants who identified as heterosexual.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The higher rates of injecting among GLBO young people found in this sample advocates for the development of targeted prevention strategies for this group. Utilising existing networks in GLBO communities could be one strategy to limit the transition to injecting drug use and reduce the risk of drug-related harms among this group.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Social Research in Health, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Centre for Social Research in Health, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bryant
authors.affiliation: The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Jeanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ellard
authors.affiliation: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Howard
authors.affiliation: Centre for Social Research in Health, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Treloar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D055030:Drug Users / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D000072339:Sexual and Gender Minorities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019529:Sexuality; D012944:Social Support; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D035862:Vulnerable Populations; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: adolescent; intravenous substance abuse; prevention and control; sexuality; vulnerable population