AEGiS-15IAC: Incarceration is independently associated with syringe lending and borrowing among a Canadian cohort of injection drug users.

15th International AIDS Conference

Bangkok, Thailand - July 11-16, 2004

Incarceration is independently associated with syringe lending and borrowing among a Canadian cohort of injection drug users.

Int Conf AIDS 2004 Jul 11-16; 15:(abstract no. WeOrC1297)

Wood E, Small W, Spittal P, Miller C, Kerr T, Tyndall M, Schechter M
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

BACKGROUND: Few prospective studies of incarceration and its relationship to HIV risk among IDU in the community are available. We evaluated rates of syringe sharing and incarceration among a cohort of injection drug users.

METHODS: We performed analyses of: 1) syringe lending by HIV-infected IDU and 2) syringe borrowing by HIV-negative IDU among participants enrolled in the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study (VIDUS) a prospective cohort of IDU. Since serial measures for each individual were available, variables potentially associated with the outcome in each case were evaluated using generalized estimating equations (GEE) for binary outcomes.

RESULTS: Overall, 1475 IDU were enrolled into the VIDUS cohort between May 1996 and May 2002. At baseline, 1123 (76%) reported a history of incarceration since they first began injecting drugs. Of these individuals, 351 (31%) reported ever injecting in prison at baseline. Among the 318 HIV-infected IDU, having been incarcerated in the six months prior to each interview remained independently associated with syringe lending during this period (Adjusted Odds Ratio: 1.33 [95% CI: 1.06 - 1.69]; p = 0.015). Similarly, among the 1157 HIV-negative IDU, having been incarcerated in the six months prior to each interview remained independently associated with reporting syringe borrowing during this period (Adjusted Odds Ratio: 1.26 [95% CI: 1.12 - 1.44]; p< 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Incarceration was independently associated with risky needle sharing for HIV-infected and HIV-negative IDU. The strong evidence of HIV risk behavior should reinforce public health concerns about blood-borne disease transmission in prisons.

Keywords: AEGIS, Needle Sharing, Substance Abuse, Intravenous, Syringes, Risk-Taking, HIV Seropositivity, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Odds Ratio, Prospective Studies, Canada

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