Patterns of Non-injection Drug Use Associated with Injection Cessation among Street-Involved Youth in Vancouver, Canada

Although abstinence from drug use is often a key goal of youth substance use treatment, transitioning to less harmful routes and types of drug use is desirable from both a clinical and public health perspective. Despite this, little is known about the trajectories of youth who inject drugs including changes in patterns of non-injection drug use. The At-Risk Youth Study (ARYS) is a longitudinal cohort of street-involved youth who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada. We used linear growth curve modeling to compare changes in non-injection drug use among participants who ceased injecting drugs for at least one 6-month period between September 2005 and May 2015 to matched controls who continued injecting over the same period. Of 387 eligible participants, 173 (44.7%) reported ceasing drug injection at least once. Non-injection drug use occurred during 160 (79.6%) periods of injection cessation. In adjusted linear growth curve analyses, the only non-injection drug use pattern observed to decrease significantly more than controls following injection cessation was daily crack/cocaine use (p = 0.024). With the exception of frequent crack/cocaine use, transitions out of injection drug use did not appear to coincide with increased reductions in patterns of non-injection drug use. Our findings indicate that most (80%) of the observed injection cessation events occurred in the context of ongoing substance use. Given that transitioning out of drug injection represents a significant reduction in risk and harm, efforts supporting vulnerable youth to move away from injecting may benefit from approaches that allow for ongoing non-injection drug use. &nbsp

A Characterization of Internet Dating Network Structures among Nordic Men Who Have Sex with Men

Background: The Internet has become an important venue for seeking sexual partners and may facilitate transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Methods: We examined a 64-day data log of flirt messages expressing sexual interest among MSM within the Qruiser. com community. We used logistic regression to analyze characteristics of MSM sending and receiving flirt messages and negative binomial regression to examine individual activity and popularity. The structural properties, including the core structure of the flirt network, were analyzed. Results: The MSM population consisted of approximately 40% homosexuals and 37% bisexuals, while the remaining 23% included men who identified as heterosexual but searched for sex with men and "experimental". MSM were more likely to send flirt messages if they were homosexual and aged 40+ years; young people aged, 30 years were more likely to receive a flirt. Possession of a webcam was strongly associated with both sending flirt messages and being a flirt target. The distributions of flirts sent (max k(out) = 2162) and received (max k(in) = 84) were highly heterogeneous. Members in central cores were more likely homosexuals, singles, and aged 31-40 years. The probability of a matched flirt (flirt returned from target) increased from 1% in the outer core to 18% in the central core (core size = 4). Discussion: The flirt network showed high degree heterogeneity similar to the structural properties of real sexual contact networks with a single central core. Further studies are needed to explore use of webcam for Internet dating

Sex inequalities in HIV-related practices in the Brazilian population aged 15 to 64 years old, 2008 Desigualdades por sexo nas práticas relacionadas à infecção pelo HIV na população brasileira de 15 a 64 anos, 2008

The objective of this study is to analyze gender differences in HIV-related practices in the Brazilian population. A national survey was carried out in 2008 with a sample size of 8,000 individuals aged 15-64 years old. The sampling was stratified by macro geographical region and urban/rural areas. Logistic regression models were used to investigate the main predictors of consistent condom use. The results showed that women have less sexy, start sexual life later than men, have fewer casual sexual partners, but use condom less frequently than men. On the other hand, the coverage of HIV testing is significantly greater among women. Significant differences by gender were seen in all HIV-related risky practices. The greater vulnerability was always associated with women, with exception of HIV testing. The low proportion of condom use in infidelity situations was a problem for box sexes and deserves special consideration when developing prevention strategies.<br>O objetivo do trabalho foi analisar as diferenças por sexo nas práticas relacionadas à infecção pelo HIV na população brasileira. Inquérito de âmbito nacional foi realizado em 2008, com amostra de 8 mil indivíduos de 15-64 anos. A amostragem foi estratificada por macrorregião geográfica e situação urbano/rural. Utilizou-se modelo de regressão logística para investigar os principais fatores associados às práticas de sexo protegido. Os resultados indicaram que as mulheres têm menor taxa de atividade sexual, iniciam a vida sexual mais tardiamente, têm menos parceiros casuais do que os homens, mas usam menos o preservativo. Por outro lado, a cobertura de teste de HIV é significativamente maior entre as mulheres quando comparadas aos homens. Foram evidenciadas grandes diferenças por sexo nas práticas relacionadas à infecção pelo HIV, sempre com maior vulnerabilidade associada às mulheres, exceto no que diz respeito ao teste de HIV. O baixo uso de preservativo nas situações de infidelidade foi um problema para ambos os sexos e merece consideração específica nas estratégias de prevenção