AEGiS-07IAC: Peer mobilization and widespread condom use by drug injectors.

7th International AIDS Conference

Florence, Italy — June 16-21, 1991

Peer mobilization and widespread condom use by drug injectors.

Int Conf AIDS 1991 Jun 16-21; 7:36 (abstract no. W.D.54)
Friedman SR, Jose B, Neaigus A, Sufian M, Goldsmith D, Des Jarlais DC; Narcotic and Drug Research Inc., New York, NY, USA

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if mobilizing peer pressure among drug injectors increases condom use.

METHODS: Intervention: Peer pressure for risk reduction was mobilized during group meetings, during one-on-one counseling, and while distributing condoms, bleach, and other supplies. Sample: 243 neighborhood drug injectors (65% male; 43% black, 41% Latino, 16% white; 26% prostitutes) who were sexually active both in the 6 months prior to intake and the period (mean 7.8 months) between intake and follow-up. Statistics: McNemar's test and repeated measures t-test and logistic regression for change between interviews; chi square for cross-sectional analyses.

RESULTS: Subjects reporting they always used condoms increased from 24% at intake to 33% (p less than .005) at followup; the mean proportion of sexual acts in which a condom was used increased from 39% to 48% (p less than .04). Of 185 subjects who did not always use condoms at intake, 39 (21%) were always using condoms at follow-up. 51% of subjects who ever attended group meetings vs 25% of non-attenders always used condoms (p less than .001) at follow-up. Group attendance was related to always using condoms among prostitute (p less than .03) and non-prostitute (p less than .02) subsamples; 61% of prostitutes who attended group meetings vs 32% of prostitute non-attenders, and 42% of non-prostitute attenders vs. 26% of non-prostitute non-attenders, reported always using condoms at follow-up. In logistic regression, meeting attendance, education and always using condoms at intake were significant predictors (p less than .025) of always using condoms at follow-up. Validity of self-reports: (1) Approximately 5000 condoms were distributed each month. 61% of follow-up subjects report "usually" getting their condoms from the project. (2) Project ethnographer observed that drug using prostitutes who ran out of condoms while working came to ask for, and get, condoms from other local prostitutes, and that condom use became part of the norms of the neighborhood drug subculture.

CONCLUSION: In New York, with its large number of drug injector AIDS cases, mobilizing peer pressure seems to increase condom use. Future research should assess peer mobilization effectiveness in other cities.

Keywords: AEGIS, Condoms, Prostitution, Condoms, Female, Cross-Sectional Studies, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Hispanic Americans, Whites, Blacks, Logistic Models, New York, Male, utilization, metabolism, ICA7
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