AIDS risk behavior patterns among intravenous drug users in Puerto Rico and the United States

Abstract

We interviewed 385 IV drug users recruited in the streets of the San Juan metropolitan area and compared our findings with comparable results from projects in the United States. As expected, intravenous (IV) drug users, irrespectively of the race or ethnic group they belong to or the geographical setting in which they live, are still practicing HIV risk behaviors. Overall, IV drug users in this analysis are young, however, both Puerto Rican and Hispanic groups have completed less years of school than Blacks and Whites in the United States. The fact that almost half of Puerto Rican IV drug users in the United States reported illegal activities as a source of income surprised investigators. However, as hypothesized by investigators, almost half of the Island's IV drug users reported to live with parents. Puerto Rican IV drug users are still practicing HIV risk behaviors, they inject drugs and use shooting galleries to inject drugs more frequently, and are less likely to clean needles and use condoms than Puerto Ricans in the U.S., Blacks and Whites. It is a well known fact that intravenous drug users are the largest group at risk for the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in Puerto Rico and among Puerto Ricans in the United States. IV drug users are also the major risk for heterosexual transmission and main source of perinatal transmission of the disease. Thus, resources for preventing AIDS in Puerto Rico are needed most among IV drug users, where 44.5 of the subjects in this study are HIV positive.