A bridge over troubled waters: factors associated with non-injection drug users having injection drug-using sex partners

Abstract

Objectives: To examine factors associated with noninjectors having 1 or more injection drug users as sex partners.

Methods: We collected data as a part of the Self-Help in Eliminating Life Threatening Diseases study, a network-oriented experimental HIV prevention intervention. All eligible participants were administered a detailed face-to-face interview on their sociodemographic background, patterns of drug use, HIV prevention and risk behaviors, and social networks. The sample for these analyses consisted of 863 noninjectors, 97 of whom had 1 or more injection drug-using sex partners.

Results: Among the factors associated with an increased odds of having 1 or more injecting sex partners were long-term unemployment, increasing proportion of women in network (among male noninjectors), increasing number of recent sex partners (among former injectors), increasing number of injecting non-sex partners in the network, and increasing network size above 15.

Conclusions: There are specific network characteristics associated with noninjectors having injecting sex partners.