Risk Environments, Race/Ethnicity, and HIV Status in a Large Sample of People Who Inject Drugs in the United States

INTRODUCTION:

We analyzed relationships between place characteristics and being HIV-negative among black, Latino, and white people who inject drugs (PWID) in the US.

METHODS:

Data on PWID (N = 9077) were from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2009 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance. Administrative data were analyzed to describe the 968 ZIP codes, 51 counties, and 19 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) where they lived. Multilevel multivariable models examined relationships between place characteristics and HIV status. Exploratory population attributable risk percents (e-PAR%s) were estimated.

RESULTS:

Black and Latino PWID were more likely to be HIV-negative if they lived in less economically disadvantaged counties, or in MSAs with less criminal-justice activity (i.e., lower drug-related arrest rates, lower policing/corrections expenditures). Latino PWID were more likely to be HIV-negative in MSAs with more Latino isolation, less black isolation, and less violent crime. E-PAR%s attributed 8-19% of HIV cases among black PWID and 1-15% of cases among Latino PWID to place characteristics.

DISCUSSION:

Evaluations of structural interventions to improve economic conditions and reduce drug-related criminal justice activity may show evidence that they protect black and Latino PWID from HIV infection.

Below: Characteristics of the sample of people who inject drugs (PWID), drawn from the 2009 CDC Survey

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/guvTRj

By:  Cooper HL1, Linton S1, Kelley ME1, Ross Z2, Wolfe ME1, Chen YT1, Zlotorzynska M1, Hunter-Jones J1, Friedman SR3, Des Jarlais DC4, Tempalski B3,DiNenno E5, Broz D5, Wejnert C5, Paz-Bailey G5; National HIV Behavioral Surveillance Study Group.

• 1Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States of America.
• 2ZevRoss SpatialAnalysis, 120 N Aurora St, Suite 3A, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States of America.
• 3Institute for Infectious Disease Research, National Development and Research Institutes, 71 West 23rd Street, 4th Fl, New York, NY 10010, United States of America.
• 4The Baron Edmond de Rothschild Chemical Dependency Institute, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, 39 Broadway, 5th floor, New York, NY 10006, United States of America.
• 5Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, NE (MS-E46), Atlanta, GA 30333, United States of America. 
• PLoS One. 2016 Mar 14;11(3):e0150410. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0150410. eCollection 2016.

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