Effectiveness of Couple-Based HIV Counseling and Testing for Women Substance Users and Their Primary Male Partners: A Randomized Trial.

A randomized trial was conducted to test the effectiveness of couple-based HIV counseling and testing (CB-HIV-CT) and women-only relationship-focused HIV counseling and testing (WRF-HIV-CT) in reducing HIV risk compared to the National Institute on Drug Abuse HIV-CT standard intervention. Substance using HIV-negative women and their primary heterosexual partner (N = 330 couples) were randomized to 1 of the 3 interventions. Follow-up assessments measuring HIV risk behaviors and other relevant variables were conducted at 3- and 9-months postintervention.

Contextual determinants of condom use among female sex exchangers in East Harlem, NYC: an event analysis.

Recent studies have revealed a variety of contexts involving HIV risk behaviors among women who exchange sex for money or drugs. Event analysis was used to identify the individual, relationship, and contextual factors that contribute to these high-risk sex exchange practices. Analyses were conducted on data obtained from 155 drug-using women who reported details of their most recent sex exchange event with male clients.

Sharing of noninjection drug-use implements as a risk factor for hepatitis C.

This study examined sharing noninjection drug implements as a risk factor for hepatitis C (HCV) infection among women drug users (n = 123) with no history of drug injection. Participants were street-recruited from East Harlem, New York City, between October 1997 and June 1999. Participants were administered a survey measuring risk factors for HCV.

Recruitment of heterosexual couples in public health research: a study protocol.

Background: Public health research involving social or kin groups (such as sexual partners or family members), rather than samples of unrelated individuals, has become more widespread in response to social ecological approaches to disease treatment and prevention. This approach requires the development of innovative sampling, recruitment and screening methodologies tailored to the study of related individuals.

Methods: In this paper, we describe a set of sampling, recruitment and screening protocols developed to enlist urban, drug-using, heterosexual couples into a public health research study.

Women's drug injection practices in East Harlem: an event analysis in a high-risk community.

This study described the most recent injection events of injection-drug-using women, determined the prevalence of HIV, hepatitis B (HBV), and hepatitis C (HCV), and identified significant predictors of injection-related risk behaviors. After validation of drug use, 185 street-recruited women participated in structured interviews and were offered HIV, HBV, and HCV testing and counseling. Interview topics included (1) demographic characteristics, (2) characteristics of injection partners (IPs), and (3) relevant situation-specific factors.