Public injecting and HIV risk behaviour among street-involved youth.
Drug Alcohol Depend
; 110(3): 254-8, 2010 Aug 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-20456875
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Although street-involved youth who inject illicit drugs are known to be at an increased risk of HIV and other adverse health outcomes, little is known about public injecting among this population and how injecting in public environments may impact HIV risk behaviour.METHODS:
We used data derived from a study of 560 street-involved youth in Vancouver, Canada to examine the factors associated with injecting in public environments among youth who reported injecting drugs in the past 6 months.RESULTS:
At baseline, 162 (28.9%) reported injecting drugs in the past 6 months. Among injectors, the 124 (76.5%) participants who reported injecting in public were more likely to be homeless (odds ratio [OR]=6.39, p<0.001), engage in unprotected intercourse (OR=3.09, p=0.004), deal drugs (OR=2.26, p=0.032), smoke crack cocaine (OR=3.00, p=0.005), inject heroin (OR=3.48, p=0.001), drop used syringes outdoors (OR=8.44, p<0.001), share syringes (OR=4.43, p=0.004), and were less likely to clean injection sites >75% of the time (OR=0.36, p=0.008). The majority (62.1%) reported feeling rushed while injecting in public.CONCLUSIONS:
Youth who inject in public are significantly more likely to engage in sexual and injection-related risk behaviour. Given the known elevated rates of HIV infection and other harms among this population, youth-focused interventions that target both sexual and drug-related risks associated with public drug-using environments are in urgent need of evaluation.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Medio Social
/
Infecciones por VIH
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Abuso de Sustancias por Vía Intravenosa
/
Jóvenes sin Hogar
Tipo de estudio:
Etiology_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Región como asunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Drug Alcohol Depend
Año:
2010
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Canadá