Community-Identified Implementation Strategies for Promoting the Adoption of HIV Self-Testing in a Southern California American Indian community: A Rapid Qualitative Analysis.

HIV incidence increased by 18% between 2015 and 2019 among American Indians (AIs) despite declining rates in other racial/ethnic groups. Culturally-appropriate implementation of prevention programs is needed to address the intersectional conditions contributing to HIV vulnerabilities experienced by AIs. The objectives of this study were to understand factors influencing HIV testing decisions and identify implementation strategies to promote the acceptability of HIV self-testing (HIVST) in a southern California AI community.

Cumulative Lifetime Violence and Bacterial Vaginosis Infection in Sexually Transmitted Infections: Findings From a Retrospective Cohort Study Among Black Women at Risk for HIV.

Introduction: Bacterial vaginosis is the most common vaginal condition among women of reproductive age and has been associated with sexually transmitted infections. This study examines the association between cumulative lifetime violence exposure, bacterial vaginosis, and sexually transmitted infections among Black women at risk for HIV.

Methods: HIV-negative Black women in a retrospective cohort study (N=230) completed survey questions on cumulative violence (exposure to sexual or physical abuse before age 18 years and exposure to intimate partner violence or sexual violence [partner or other] after age 18 years and past year), bacterial vaginosis (lifetime and past year), and sexually transmitted infection diagnosis (lifetime and past year).

Young, Black/African American, and Latino communities are left behind despite legislative efforts in California to reduce HIV/STI disparities.

Objectives: Sexually transmitted infections (STI) have been on the rise in the United States with racial/ethnic minority groups, gay and bisexual men, and youth experiencing the highest STI and HIV infection rates. In 2022, California became the first state in the nation to pass legislation, Senate Bill 306 (SB 306), requiring health care plans to cover the costs of home test kits for STIs, including HIV. This study examines provisions within SB 306 and its potential to reduce STI and HIV disparities among key demographic groups and geographic regions within California.

Detoxification, 12-step meeting attendance, and non-fatal opioid overdoses among a suburban/exurban population with opioid use disorder.

Background: Drug overdoses are the leading cause of injury death in the United States with an estimated 105,752 individuals dying from an overdose in the United States in a 12-month period ending October 2021. Given that people who have opioid use disorder (OUD) are at an increased risk of death, it is crucial to assess risk factors associated with opioid overdose to improve interventions.

Objectives: We examine factors associated with non-fatal overdose among a suburban/exurban population with OUD in Southern California.

"There Is a Lot of Practice in Not Thinking about That": Structural, Interpersonal, and Individual-Level Barriers to HIV/STI Prevention among Reservation Based American Indians.

American Indians (AI) face significant disparities in HIV/STI morbidity and mortality, and historical, structural, interpersonal, and individual level barriers stymie prevention efforts. The objective of this paper is to examine barriers to HIV/STI prevention among reservation-based AI. We conducted face-to-face qualitative interviews with 17 reservation-based AI community leaders and community members in Southern California on HIV/STI knowledge and attitudes and barriers to prevention.

Prevalence and correlates of cervical abnormalities among female sex workers in Tijuana, Mexico.

Objectives:: In Tijuana, Mexico, sex work is regulated by the municipal health department and includes regular testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) for registered female sex workers (FSWs). However, Pap testing is missing from current sexual health assessments. We aimed to answer the following research questions: 1.

Prevalence of HIV/STIs and correlates with municipal characteristics among female sex workers in 13 Mexican cities.

Objective: To identify correlates of HIV/STI prevalence among 13 cities with varying sizes of female sex worker (FSW) populations and municipal characteristics in Mexico.

Materials And Methods: FSWs underwent interviews and testing for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia. Logistic regression explored variations in HIV/STI prevalence.

Factors associated with extrajudicial arrest for syringe possession: results of a department-wide survey of municipal police in Tijuana, Mexico.

Background: Mexican law permits syringe purchase and possession without prescription. Nonetheless, people who inject drugs (PWID) frequently report arrest for syringe possession. Extrajudicial arrests not only violate human rights, but also significantly increase the risk of blood-borne infection transmission and other health harms among PWID and police personnel.

Predictors of injecting cessation among a cohort of people who inject drugs in Tijuana, Mexico.

Introduction: Little is known about the cessation of injecting drug use (IDU) among people who inject drugs (PWID) in low and middle-income settings, where access to effective interventions for reducing drug use (e.g., opioid substitution treatment; OST), may be limited.

Structural factors associated with methamphetamine smoking among female sex workers in Tijuana, Mexico.

Introduction And Aims: Smoking methamphetamine is associated with increased risk of HIV among female sex workers (FSW). The structural context of substance use is an important shaper of individual behaviour; however, structural determinants of methamphetamine use among FSWs are largely unknown. We identified individual, structural and neighbourhood factors associated with smoking methamphetamine among FSWs in the border city of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

Impact of Public Safety Policies on Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission Dynamics in Tijuana, Mexico.

Background: North Tijuana, Mexico is home to many individuals at high risk for transmitting and acquiring human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Recently, policy shifts by local government impacted how these individuals were handled by authorities. Here we examined how this affected regional HIV transmission dynamics.

Perceived Treatment Need and Latent Transitions in Heroin and Methamphetamine Polydrug Use among People who Inject Drugs in Tijuana, Mexico.

People who inject drugs (PWID) in Tijuana, Mexico, use heroin and/or methamphetamine. While polydrug use is associated with HIV risk behavior, less is known about the stability of polydrug use patterns over time and how polydrug use is related to perceived treatment need. Within a cohort of PWID in Tijuana (N = 735) we sought to (1) characterize subgroups of polydrug and polyroute use from baseline to six months; (2) determine the probabilities of transitioning between subgroups; and (3) examine whether self-reported need for help for drug use modified these transition probabilities.

Latent classes of polydrug and polyroute use and associations with human immunodeficiency virus risk behaviours and overdose among people who inject drugs in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

Introduction And Aims: Patterns of polydrug use among people who inject drugs (PWID) may be differentially associated with overdose and unique human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk factors. Subgroups of PWID in Tijuana, Mexico, were identified based on substances used, route of administration, frequency of use and co-injection indicators.

Design And Methods: Participants were PWID residing in Tijuana age ≥18 years sampled from 2011 to 2012 who reported injecting an illicit substance in the past month (n = 735).

The Spatial-Temporal Pattern of Policing Following a Drug Policy Reform: Triangulating Self-Reported Arrests With Official Crime Statistics.

Background: In 2009, Mexico enacted a drug policy reform (Narcomenudeo) designed to divert persons possessing small amounts of illicit drugs to treatment rather than incarceration. To assess reform impact, this study examines the spatial-temporal trends of drug-related policing in Tijuana, Mexico post-enactment.

Method: Location of self-reported arrests (N = 1,160) among a prospective, community-recruited cohort of people who inject drugs (PWID) in Tijuana (N = 552) was mapped across city neighborhoods.

Prevalence and Correlates of Heroin-Methamphetamine Co-Injection Among Persons Who Inject Drugs in San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

Objective: Although persons who inject drugs (PWID) in the western United States-Mexico border region are known to inject both heroin and methamphetamine, little is known about the prevalence and risks associated with co-injection of this depressant-stimulant combination (also known as "goofball" and "Mexican speedball").

Method: Baseline data from parallel cohort studies of PWID conducted concurrently in San Diego, CA, and Tijuana, Mexico, were used to estimate the prevalence and identify correlates of heroin-methamphetamine co-injection. PWID older than 18 years of age who reported injecting illicit drugs in the past month (N = 1,311; 32.

Utilization of Google enterprise tools to georeference survey data among hard-to-reach groups: strategic application in international settings.

Background: As geospatial data have become increasingly integral to health and human rights research, their collection using formal address designations or paper maps has been complicated by numerous factors, including poor cartographic literacy, nomenclature imprecision, and human error. As part of a longitudinal study of people who inject drugs in Tijuana, Mexico, respondents were prompted to georeference specific experiences.

Results: At baseline, only about one third of the 737 participants were native to Tijuana, underscoring prevalence of migration/deportation experience.

Relationship between a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded HIV testing initiative and past-year testing by race/ethnicity: a multilevel analysis of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) expanded testing initiative (ETI) aims to bolster HIV testing among populations disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic by providing additional funding to health departments serving these communities. ETI prioritizes testing in clinical settings; therefore, we examined the relationship between state-level ETI participation and past-year HIV testing among a racially/ethnically diverse sample of adult respondents to the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System who accessed health services within the 12 months prior to being interviewed. Controlling for individual- and state-level characteristics in a multilevel logistic regression model, ETI participation was independently and positively associated with past-year testing, but this association varied by race/ethnicity.

Trends in HIV Testing Among U.S. Older Adults Prior to and Since Release of CDC's Routine HIV Testing Recommendations: National Findings from the BRFSS.

Objective: This study examined temporal trends in HIV testing among U.S. older adults (50-64 years of age) before and after the release of CDC's routine HIV testing recommendations in 2006.

Recent HIV Testing Prevalence, Determinants, and Disparities Among U.S. Older Adult Respondents to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Background: Although routine human immune deficiency virus (HIV) testing during health care visits is recommended for most adults, many older adults (i.e., ages 50-64 years) do not receive it.

Short-term cessation of sex work and injection drug use: evidence from a recurrent event survival analysis.

Objective: This study quantitatively examined the prevalence and correlates of short-term sex work cessation among female sex workers who inject drugs (FSW-IDUs) and determined whether injection drug use was independently associated with cessation.

Methods: We used data from FSW-IDUs (n=467) enrolled into an intervention designed to increase condom use and decrease sharing of injection equipment but was not designed to promote sex work cessation. We applied a survival analysis that accounted for quit-re-entry patterns of sex work over 1-year stratified by city, Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Examining the spatial distribution of law enforcement encounters among people who inject drugs after implementation of Mexico's drug policy reform.

In 2009, Mexico decriminalized the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use in order to refocus law enforcement resources on drug dealers and traffickers. This study examines the spatial distribution of law enforcement encounters reported by people who inject drugs (PWID) in Tijuana, Mexico to identify concentrated areas of policing activity after implementation of the new drug policy. Mapping the physical location of law enforcement encounters provided by PWID (n = 461) recruited through targeted sampling, we identified hotspots of extra-judicial encounters (e.

Evaluating outcome-correlated recruitment and geographic recruitment bias in a respondent-driven sample of people who inject drugs in Tijuana, Mexico.

Respondent-driven sampling's (RDS) widespread use and reliance on untested assumptions suggests a need for new exploratory/diagnostic tests. We assessed geographic recruitment bias and outcome-correlated recruitment among 1,048 RDS-recruited people who inject drugs (Tijuana, Mexico). Surveys gathered demographics, drug/sex behaviors, activity locations, and recruiter-recruit pairs.

Venue-level correlates of female sex worker registration status: a multilevel analysis of bars in Tijuana, Mexico.

In Tijuana, Mexico, sex work is regulated by the municipal government, through registration cards issued to female sex workers (FSWs) for an annual fee. Registration has been associated with decreased drug use and increase condom use and HIV testing. Previously, it was demonstrated that FSWs operating in bars were more likely than street-based FSWs to be registered.