Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2006 Feb;33(2):111-7.
doi: 10.1097/01.olq.0000199762.28231.ee.

Drug users: a potentially important bridge population in the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, in China

Hongjie Liu  1 , Oscar Grusky, Xiaojing Li, Erjian Ma
Affiliations

Drug users: a potentially important bridge population in the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, in China

Hongjie Liu et al. Sex Transm Dis. 2006 Feb.

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine risk characteristics among bridge and nonbridge drug users.

Study design: A cross-sectional study was conducted among drug users. Drug users who shared needles and engaged in sex with both high-risk partners and low-risk partners were defined as bridgers.

Results: A total of 312 drug users were recruited, among whom 49.4% (154) were bridgers. Among bridgers, 83.1% injected drugs and 35% shared needles in the past month. Eighty-seven percent (134) of bridgers had one or more commercial sex partners in the past year. Only 3.9% of the bridgers and 4.6% of nonbridgers consistently used condoms with regular sex partners. Fifty-eight percent of bridgers and 46.8% of nonbridgers tested positive for hepatitis C virus, whereas 15.6% of bridgers and 7% of nonbridgers tested positive for syphilis.

Conclusions: The pervasiveness of bridgers among drug users and their risky sexual behavior underscore their role in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types