HIV testing among people who inject drugs in Ivanovo and Novosibirsk, Russia.

Objective: HIV testing among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Russia has been documented to be low; however, few studies have been conducted outside of the major metropolitan cities. The aim of this study was to determine how many PWID were aware of their HIV serostatus and what motivators were associated with getting tested for HIV.

Methods: Our analysis describes HIV testing behaviours among 593 PWID in Ivanovo and Novosibirsk, Russia.

HIV-care access among people with incarceration experience in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Background: Little is known about the clinical care experiences of HIV-infected persons in St. Petersburg who have experience with incarceration. To address this question, we conducted a capture-recapture study to identify individuals who had been diagnosed with HIV infection while incarcerated and who subsequently presented for medical care in St.

Engagement in HIV care and its correlates among people who inject drugs in St Petersburg, Russian Federation and Kohtla-Järve, Estonia.

Background And Aims: HIV infection and mortality in Eastern Europe are driven by unsafe injection drug use. We sought to compare engagement in care from HIV testing through receipt of antiretroviral treatment among HIV-positive people who inject drugs (PWID) in St Petersburg, Russian Federation (RF) and Kohtla-Järve, Estonia and identify factors associated significantly with failure to progress at each stage of the HIV treatment cascade.

Design: Cross-sectional biobehavioral surveys of PWID with an analysis stratified by location-two Russian-speaking regions with similar HIV epidemic histories and current prevalence.

Substance Use Patterns of HIV-Infected Russian Women with and Without Hepatitis C Virus Co-infection.

Individuals with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection may experience substance use related health complications. This study characterized substance use patterns between HIV/HCV co-infected and HIV mono-infected Russian women. HIV-infected women (N = 247; M age = 30.

Non-fatal overdoses and related risk factors among people who inject drugs in St. Petersburg, Russia and Kohtla-Järve, Estonia.

Background: This study seeks to identify the prevalence of, and risk factors associated with, non-fatal overdose among people currently injecting drugs (PWID) in St. Petersburg (Russia) and in Kohtla-Järve (Estonia).

Methods: Five hundred eighty-eight study participants in Kohtla-Järve (in 2012) and 811 in St.

Emergence of methadone as a street drug in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Background: The syndemic of opioid addiction, HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis, imprisonment, and overdose in Russia has been worsened by the illegality of opioid substitution therapy. As part of on-going serial studies, we sought to explore the influence of opioid availability on aspects of the syndemic as it has affected the city of St. Petersburg.

Impact of incarceration experiences on reported HIV status and associated risk behaviours and disease comorbidities.

Background: The Russian human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic among people who inject drugs (PWID) originated in Kaliningrad, but research into risk behaviours among PWID has been lacking. The potential for heterosexual spread has not been analysed.

Methods: A sample of PWID was accrued using two methods.

Community reentry challenges after release from prison among people who inject drugs in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Purpose: Little is known about the context of the post-release risk environment among formerly incarcerated people who inject drugs (PWID) in Russia. The purpose of this paper is to explore these challenges as they relate to reentry, relapse to injection opioid use, and overdose.

Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted 25 in-depth semi-structured interviews among PWID living in St Petersburg, Russia who had been incarcerated within the past two years.

Internalized HIV and Drug Stigmas: Interacting Forces Threatening Health Status and Health Service Utilization Among People with HIV Who Inject Drugs in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Marked overlap between the HIV and injection drug use epidemics in St. Petersburg, Russia, puts many people in need of health services at risk for stigmatization based on both characteristics simultaneously. The current study examined the independent and interactive effects of internalized HIV and drug stigmas on health status and health service utilization among 383 people with HIV who inject drugs in St.

A tale of two cities: stigma and health outcomes among people with HIV who inject drugs in St. Petersburg, Russia and Kohtla-Järve, Estonia.

Experiences of stigma are often associated with negative mental and physical health outcomes. The present work tested the associations between stigma and health-related outcomes among people with HIV who inject drugs in Kohtla-Järve, Estonia and St. Petersburg, Russia.

Hepatitis C virus seroprevalence among people who inject drugs and factors associated with infection in eight Russian cities.

Background: Behavioural surveillance among people who inject drugs (PWID) and testing for hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV is needed to understand the scope of both epidemics in at-risk populations and to suggest steps to improve their health.

Methods: PWID were recruited using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) in eight Russian cities. A standardized survey was administered to collect sociodemographic and behavioral information.

Individual-level, network-level and city-level factors associated with HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs in eight Russian cities: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To ascertain HIV prevalence among people who inject drug (injection drug users (IDUs)) in the Russian Federation and identify explanations for the disparity in different cities.

Design: Cross-sectional survey with serological testing for HIV and hepatitis C virus prevalent infections.

Setting: 8 Russian cities-Irkutsk, Omsk, Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg, Naberezhnye Chelny, Voronezh, Orel and St Petersburg.

HIV prevalence and risk behavior among injection drug users and their sex partners in two Russian cities.

The HIV epidemic in Russia remains concentrated mostly among injection drug users (IDUs). Little is known about the extent to which sexual partnerships are the bridge between IDUs and the general population and create the potential for generalizing the epidemic. IDUs in two Russian cities, Novosibirsk and Ivanovo (N=593), were recruited via respondent-driven sampling.

Sexual Partners of Street-Based Female Sex Workers in St. Petersburg, Russia: A Model of Partnership Characteristics as a Basis for Further Research.

Street-based sex work in Russia, as in many countries, carries with it a high risk for violence and the transmission of infectious diseases. The male partners of female sex workers are both cause and recipient of such risks. Because little is known about the men, we undertook a preliminary study to determine the feasibility of recruiting and interviewing them, develop typologies that describe partners, and derive hypotheses for further study and risk reduction intervention projects.

Clients of street-based female sex workers and potential bridging of HIV/STI in Russia: results of a pilot study.

In Russia, sexual transmission of HIV is increasing and street-based female sex workers (FSW) have a high HIV prevalence, but the role of male clients of FSW in HIV transmission and bridging to the general population has not been studied. Sixty-two male clients completed structured interviews during February-March of 2010 in St. Petersburg Russia.

Drug network characteristics and HIV risk among injection drug users in Russia: the roles of trust, size, and stability.

We investigated the influence of drug network characteristics including trust, size, and stability on HIV risk behaviors and HIV testing among injection drug users (IDUs) in St. Petersburg, Russia. Overall, male and female IDUs who reported having high levels of trust in their drug networks were significantly more likely to share syringes than those with lower levels of trust (OR [95% CI]) 2.