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. 2015;22(3):1-20.
doi: 10.5820/aian.2203.2015.1.

Post-traumatic stress disorder and HIV risk behaviors among rural American Indian/Alaska Native women

Cynthia R Pearson, Debra Kaysen, Annie Belcourt, Cynthia A Stappenbeck, Chuan Zhou, Lucy Smartlowit-Briggs, Patricia Whitefoot

Post-traumatic stress disorder and HIV risk behaviors among rural American Indian/Alaska Native women

Cynthia R Pearson et al. Am Indian Alsk Native Ment Health Res. 2015.

Abstract

We assessed the relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), binge drinking, and HIV sexual risk behavior by examining number of unprotected sex acts and number of sexual partners in the past 6 months among 129 sexually active American Indian women. A total of 51 (39.5%) young women met PTSD criteria. Among women who met the PTSD criteria, binge drinking was associated with a 35% increased rate of unprotected sex (IRR 1.35, p < .05), and there was a stronger association between increased binge drinking and risk of more sexual partners (IRR 1.21, p < .001) than among women who did not meet PTSD criteria (IRR 1.08, p < .01) with a difference of 13% (p < .05). HIV intervention and prevention interventions in this population likely would benefit from the inclusion of efforts to reduce binge drinking and increase treatment of PTSD symptoms.

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