Health risk associated with residential relocation among people who inject drugs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA: a cross sectional study.

Background: Given the housing instability and frequent residential relocation (both volitional and hegemonic) of people who inject drugs, we sought to determine whether residential relocation (defined as sleeping in a different place in the past 30 days) is associated with health outcomes in a sample of people who inject drugs (PWID).

Methods: We recruited 601 PWID using targeted sampling and interviewed them between 2016 and 2018 in San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA about housing, drug use practices, and service utilization. We then developed multivariable regression models to investigate how residential relocation is associated with violence, health outcomes, and social service access.

Health Care Experiences of Youth Living With HIV Who Were Lost to Follow-up in Western Kenya.

HIV is the leading cause of mortality for youth in sub-Saharan Africa. Youth are more likely than any other age group to be lost to follow-up (LTFU) from care. We investigated the health care-related experiences of youth living with HIV (YLWH) who were LTFU (i.

The Sexual Health Needs of Adolescent Boys Involved in a Pregnancy.

Purpose: Little is known about fatherhood in middle adolescence. To better understand their sexual health needs, we describe relationship characteristics, perception of masculinity, and associated sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk behaviors in a community-based sample of urban middle adolescent boys who have fathered a child or been involved with a pregnancy.

Methods: We used venue-based sampling to recruit 339 boys (aged 14-17 years) in neighborhoods with high STI prevalence.

Marginalization and Community Perception of HIV Care, Treatment, and Support on Mfangano Island, Kenya.

Background: In rural sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS pandemic has exerted effects on nearly every aspect of life. Yet despite the pandemic's near ubiquitous impacts, major barriers to HIV care, treatment, and support persist. Compounding the barriers to care is the incredible complexity and diversity of experience across different sociocultural contexts.

'The Thing that Really Gets Me Is the Future': Symptomatology in Older Homeless Adults in the HOPE HOME Study.

Context: The homeless population is aging. Older homeless adults experience premature development of age-related conditions and an elevated symptom burden. Little is known about symptom experience among older homeless adults.

Community Engagement and Venue-Based Sampling in Adolescent Male Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention Research.

Objectives: Middle adolescent males are a difficult group to recruit for community sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention research. We describe a process of community engagement, and venue-based sampling of 14-17-year-old adolescent males, and compare rates of STIs and STI risk behaviors by venue.

Methods: Community engagement consisted of (1) informational meetings with organizations; (2) participation in community meetings and events; (3) hiring community members as study personnel; and (4) an adolescent advisory board recruited from the community.

Sociodemographic Factors Associated With Trans*female Youth's Access to Health Care in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Purpose: Trans*female youth (TFY) are an underserved population at risk for a variety of poor health outcomes, in part related to barriers to accessing health and mental health care.

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of data collected with 250 TFY aged 16-24 years in the San Francisco Bay Area from 2012 to 2014. Logistic regression was used to test associations between sociodemographic variables and barriers to gender identity-based medical and mental health care.

Six-year mortality in a street-recruited cohort of homeless youth in San Francisco, California.

Objectives. The mortality rate of a street-recruited homeless youth cohort in the United States has not yet been reported. We examined the six-year mortality rate for a cohort of street youth recruited from San Francisco street venues in 2004.

Coming of Age on the Margins: Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Latino Immigrant Young Adults Eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Undocumented immigrant young adults growing up in the United States face significant challenges. For those qualified, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program's protections may alleviate stressors, with implications for their mental health and wellbeing (MHWB). We conducted nine focus groups with 61 DACA-eligible Latinos (ages 18-31) in California to investigate their health needs.

Prevalence and Correlates of HIV Infection among Street Boys in Kisumu, Kenya.

Introduction: Despite their perceived vulnerability to HIV, East African street youth have been neglected in HIV prevention research. We examined HIV seroprevalence and correlates of HIV infection in a sample of male street youth in Kisumu, Kenya.

Methods: We enrolled a street-recruited sample of 13-21 year old street youth.

"It is all about the fear of being discriminated [against]…the person suffering from HIV will not be accepted": a qualitative study exploring the reasons for loss to follow-up among HIV-positive youth in Kisumu, Kenya.

Background: Youth represent 40% of all new HIV infections in the world, 80% of which live in sub-Saharan Africa. Youth living with HIV (YLWH) are more likely to become lost to follow-up (LTFU) from care compared to all other age groups. This study explored the reasons for LTFU among YLWH in Kenya.

Factors influencing abstinence, anticipation, and delay of sex among adolescent boys in high-sexually transmitted infection prevalence communities.

Purpose: Abstinence is a core pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention strategy. We explore the attitudinal, behavioral, and family contexts relating to abstinence and the decision to delay sex among adolescent boys.

Methods: Adolescent boys ages 14-17 years were recruited from community sites using a venue-based sampling method.

Gender differences in sexual risk and sexually transmitted infections correlate with gender differences in social networks among San Francisco homeless youth.

Purpose: To explore whether gender differences in sexual risk and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among homeless youth may be explained in part by gender differences in their social networks.

Methods: Our sample includes 258 youth (64% male) recruited in San Francisco from street venues and transitional programs. Participants completed an audio computer-administered self-interview survey regarding their housing status and risk behaviors and an interviewer-administered survey regarding their social networks, and were tested for STIs (chlamydia and gonorrhea).

Impact of social network characteristics on shelter use among street youth in San Francisco.

Purpose: We examined the cross-sectional and longitudinal association between social network characteristics and street youths' shelter use, a determinant of health outcomes for homeless youth.

Methods: We analyzed interview data from 138 street youth recruited through venue-based sampling in San Francisco, to assess the cross-sectional relationship between shelter use in youths' social networks and youths' reported shelter use. We also assessed the relationship between baseline network shelter use and shelter use at 6-month follow-up.

The challenge of pregnancy among homeless youth: reclaiming a lost opportunity.

Young, homeless women often become pregnant, but little is known about how street youth experience their pregnancies. We documented 26 pregnancy outcomes among 13 homeless women (ages 18-26) and eight homeless men through interviews and participant-observation. Eight pregnancies were voluntarily terminated, three were miscarried, and fifteen were carried to term.

Incidence and predictors of onset of injection drug use in a San Francisco cohort of homeless youth.

Few studies document incidence of injection drug use among homeless youth. We followed a cohort of 70 street-recruited homeless youth in San Francisco, California who had never injected drugs for six months in 2004-5. We examined initiation of injection drug use and its predictors, informed by prior ethnographic findings.

Why doctors choose small towns: a developmental model of rural physician recruitment and retention.

Shortages of health care professionals have plagued rural areas of the USA for more than a century. Programs to alleviate them have met with limited success. These programs generally focus on factors that affect recruitment and retention, with the supposition that poor recruitment drives most shortages.

Youth living with HIV and partner-specific risk for the secondary transmission of HIV.

Background: Secondary transmission remains a significant concern among HIV-infected youth. Little is known, however, about how partner-specific sexual risk behaviors for the secondary transmission of HIV may differ between the 2 largest subgroups of HIV-positive youth, women-who-have-sex-with-men (WSM) and men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM), METHODS: During 2003-2004, a convenience sample of HIV-infected youth, 13 to 24 years of age, were recruited from 15 Adolescent Medicine Trials Network clinical sites. Approximately 10 to 15 youth were recruited at each site.

The worlds of homeless white and African American youth in San Francisco, California: a cultural epidemiological comparison.

Research to date has given little attention to differences in the experience of youth homelessness by ethnicity. This article provides a comparative descriptive analysis of the effect of differences and similarities in paths to homelessness, self-perception, and survival strategies on health behaviors and consequent health outcomes of African American and white homeless youth in San Francisco, USA. We conducted participant observation and ethnographic interviews with 54 youth primarily recruited from street venues.