SOCIAL FACTORS RELATED TO SYRINGE SHARING AMONG INJECTING PARTNERS: A FOCUS ON GENDER

The study of social networks has become an increasingly utilized method of examining the relationship between injection drug users' social environment and risk of HIV. This study examined relational aspects of two injection drug users (IDUs) within a single social network as they relate to shar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Substance use & misuse 2001-01, Vol.36 (14), p.2113-2136
Main Authors: Sherman, Susan G., Latkin, Carl A., Gielen, Andrea C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - transmission
Addictive behaviors
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Baltimore
Baltimore, Maryland
Biological and medical sciences
Drug Abuse
Drug addiction
Drug Injection
Dyads
Female
Gender differences
HIV
Humans
Injecting drug users
Interpersonal Relations
Intravenous drug addicts
Male
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous
Needle Sharing
Needle Sharing - psychology
Prevention and actions
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Risk
Sex Differences
Sex Distribution
Social Environment
Social factors
Social Networks
Social Support
Substance Abuse, Intravenous - psychology
USA
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Summary:The study of social networks has become an increasingly utilized method of examining the relationship between injection drug users' social environment and risk of HIV. This study examined relational aspects of two injection drug users (IDUs) within a single social network as they relate to sharing syringes. Data presented in this study were derived from baseline interviews of 508 IDUs from Baltimore, MD. Analyses were performed separately for male and female participants in an effort to understand gender differences in social aspects of syringe sharing. Among this sample, women shared syringes with a significantly higher percentage of injecting partners compared to men. In separate multilevel logistic regression models, significant variables associated with males' and females' syringe sharing were: sharing drugs daily with female injecting partners, injecting partners' provision of drugs when indexes' were withdrawing, being sexual partners, and injecting partners' injecting speedballs. Factors associated with male injecting dyads sharing of syringes were: being kin, injecting partners' injection of heroin and daily drug use, and drinking alcohol together. Results from this study demonstrate the usefulness of examining relationship characteristics of injecting dyads related to syringe sharing as they differ between men and women.
ISSN:1082-6084
1532-2491
DOI:10.1081/JA-100108439