The Context of HIV Risk Among Drug Users and Their Sexual Partners

equipment; instead, they are being shared for them. Having a low level
of differentiation of self would make the women unable to say “I want
this to stop.”
Another finding of Harris and colleagues’ study is that even though the
intervention is not targeting drug use, drug use is repeatedly mentioned
by the female IDUs. Although these women are on a methadone
program, they are using drugs such as alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and
heroin. The investigators have learned that addressing HIV transmission
among this population without addressing the issue of drug abuse is not
approaching the problem from a comprehensive perspective.
Frischer and colleagues (1993) reported on their study conducted in
Scotland that aimed at theoretically modeling the behavior and attributes
of intravenous drug users (IVDUs) in order to examine relationships
between different variables as they affect HIV risk practices. In
face-to-face interviews, the investigators administered a questionnaire
that captured 10 variables: treatment, drug use, needle sharing, harm
reduction, prison, prostitution, income, travel, sex, and AIDS awareness.
This questionnaire was designed by an international World Health
Organization (WHO) working party and used in 11 cities worldwide.
The investigators used the questionnaire to collect data from 503
drug-using subjects and submit it to the linear structural relations program
(LISREL). Data were collected in an attempt to establish relationships
predictive of HIV risk, HIV harm reduction, or protection from risk.
Although the authors reported no specifics regarding the percentage of
female subjects, data were analyzed in order to determine if gender
contributed to the predictive power of equations addressing HIV risk.
In terms of HIV risk for female IVDUs, it was found that higher levels of
drug use were associated with higher levels of sexual activity and with
lower levels of precautions taken in relation to HIV. Injecting drug use
was related to sharing of injecting equipment; those who injected more
also shared more. Female subjects, particularly younger females, those
reporting higher levels of drug use, and those reporting higher levels of
sexual activity, reported higher levels of sharing injection equipment than
males.
Injection drug use was found to be a predictor of prostitution. High
levels of drug use were associated with prostitution and illegal behavior
for obtaining drugs, Another predictor of sharing injection equipment
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