AEGiS-15IAC: Intimate partner violence and HIV risk in a longitudinal study of men on methadone.

15th International AIDS Conference

Bangkok, Thailand - July 11-16, 2004

Intimate partner violence and HIV risk in a longitudinal study of men on methadone.

Int Conf AIDS 2004 Jul 11-16; 15:(abstract no. TuOrC1124)

Gilbert L, El-Bassel N, Wu E, Go H, Ashton D, Hill J, Sanders G
Columbia University, New York, United States

BACKGROUND: The relationship between perpetrating intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual HIV risk among men remains unclear, despite accumulating evidence documenting associations between experiencing IPV and HIV risk among women. The purpose of this NIDA-funded study was to examine the temporal relationships between perpetrating physical and/or sexual IPV and sexual HIV risk behavior among a random sample of 355 men on methadone.

METHODS: This study tested two hypotheses: (H1) whether sexual HIV risk behavior leads to IPV and (H2) whether IPV leads to sexual HIV risk. Participants were assessed at three waves: baseline, 6 months and 12 months. IPV was measured by the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale. Propensity score matching and multiple logistic regression were employed for analyzing data.

RESULTS: Participants were mostly Latina (45%) and African American (37%). The average age of participants was 43 years. In the 6 months prior to wave 1, nearly three-quarters (72%) reported illicit drug use and 41% perpetrated physical and/or sexual IPV. H1: After adjusting for potential confounders, self-reported STIs at wave 1 increased risk of perpetrating physical/sexual IPV at wave 2 and 3 (OR=2.6, CI=2.0, 3.6). Increased risk of IPV at wave 2 and 3 was also found for reporting sex with an HIV positive partner at baseline (OR=2.3, CI=1.9, 2.9), sex with multiple partners (OR=2.3, CI=1.8, 3.0) and inconsistent condom use (OR=1.6, CI=1.1, 2.4). H2: Perpetrating IPV at wave 1 increased the risk of having sex with multiple partners (OR=2.7, CI=2.1, 3.5) and sex with an HIV positive partner (OR=1.4, CI=1.2, 1.8) at wave 2 and wave 3. Conclusion The high prevalence of perpetrating IPV and bi-directional associations between perpetrating IPV and HIV risk found among this random sample of drug-involved men suggest the need for HIV/STI interventions to take into account the co-occurring problem of IPV in this population.

Keywords: AEGIS, Methadone, Violence, Sexual Partners, Longitudinal Studies, Prevalence, Sexual Behavior, Safe Sex, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, Case-Control Studies, Humans, Male, Female

040711
TuOrC1124