A comparative study of mortality among Puerto Rican injection drug users in East Harlem, New York, and Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

Drug users have been found to be at high risk of mortality but the mortality experience of Hispanic drug users remains understudied. This study assessed mortality among Puerto Rican injection drug users (IDUs) in New York City (NY), and in Puerto Rico (PR). Study subjects were 637 IDUs from NY and 319 IDUs from PR.

Drug treatment disparities among Hispanic drug-using women in Puerto Rico and New York City.

This paper reports findings on 334 out-of-treatment drug users in Puerto Rico and 617 in New York City, at the 6-month follow-up interview of a Longitudinal Survey. Main outcomes were health care and drug treatment utilization since baseline, assessed by asking participants if they had received physical or mental health services (including HIV medications), and if they had been in methadone maintenance, inpatient or outpatient drug treatment, or drug treatment while incarcerated. Chi-square tests were used to evaluate associations between gender and the various correlates.

Factors associated with drug treatment dropout among injection drug users in Puerto Rico.

This study examined factors associated with drug treatment dropout among injection drug users (IDUs) in Puerto Rico, a group that has contributed significantly to the self-sustaining AIDS epidemic in the island since the mid-1980s. A total of 557 IDUs were recruited from communities in a semirural region of Puerto Rico, as part of a longitudinal study testing the efficacy of a two-facet intervention model, based on motivational interviewing. Of 124 IDUs who had entered drug treatment at follow-up, 33 (26.

HIV risk behaviors and alcohol intoxication among injection drug users in Puerto Rico.

This paper reports results of an analysis of the association between alcohol intoxication and injection and sexual HIV risk behaviors among 557 Hispanic heroin and cocaine injectors, not in treatment, who were recruited in poor communities in Puerto Rico. Subjects were part of a longitudinal prevention-intervention study aimed at reducing drug use and HIV risk behaviors. Participants reported a high prevalence of co-occurring conditions, particularly symptoms of severe depression (52%) and severe anxiety (37%), measured by Beck's Depression Index and Beck's Anxiety Index, respectively.

Effects of combined counseling and case management to reduce HIV risk behaviors among Hispanic drug injectors in Puerto Rico: a randomized controlled study.

This study examined the effectiveness of a combined counseling and case management behavioral intervention, using motivational interviewing strategies, in engaging Hispanic injection drug users in treatment and reducing drug use and injection-related HIV risk behaviors. Follow up data are presented on 440 (79.0%) of 557 randomized participants, 6 months after the initial interview.

Mortality among Hispanic drug users in Puerto Rico.

This paper assesses mortality rate for a cohort of drug users in Puerto Rico compared with that of the Island's general population, examining causes of death and estimating relative risk of death. Date and cause of death were obtained from death certificates during 1998. Vital status was confirmed through contact with subjects, family, and friends.

Determinants of health care use among Puerto Rican drug users in Puerto Rico and New York City.

This study was conducted to identify factors accounting for differences in health care and drug treatment utilization between Puerto Rican drug users residing in 2 separate locations. Survey findings from 334 drug users in Puerto Rico and 617 in New York City showed that those in Puerto Rico were 6 times less likely than their counterparts in New York to have used inpatient medical services and 13 to 14 times less likely to have used outpatient medical services or methadone. They also were less likely to have health insurance or past drug treatment.

Influence of environmental tobacco smoke on vitamin C status in children.

Background: It is known that vitamin C status is compromised in smokers. The vitamin C status of nonsmokers who are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is now being elucidated.

Objective: We assessed vitamin C status in children who were either exposed or not exposed to ETS, and we sought to associate changes in vitamin C status with the amount of ETS exposure.

The validity of drug use self-reports among hard core drug users in a household survey in Puerto Rico: comparison of survey responses of cocaine and heroin use with hair tests.

The extent to which underreporting of drug use in household surveys affects the validity of epidemiological studies of drug use disorders is largely unknown. We developed a list of known hard core drug users as part of a larger household study in Puerto Rico. The known drug users were recruited and interviewed with the same procedures used for the respondents selected through area-probability sampling.