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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Anita Raj, PhD¹, Debbie M. Cheng, ScD², Evgeny Krupitsky, MD³, Suzette Levenson, MPH, MEd⁴, Valentina Y. Egorova, MD³, Seville Meli, MPH⁵, Edwin E. Zvartau, MD³, and Jeffrey H. Samet, MD⁵. (1) Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St., T2W, Boston, MA 02118, 617-638-6467, anitaraj@bu.edu, (2) Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St., Boston, MA 02118, (3) Psychiatry, St. Petersburg State Pavlov Medical University, c/o Jeffrey Samet at Clinical Addiction Research and Education (CARE) Unit, 91 East Concord St., Suite 200, St. Petersberg, 617 414 7399, Russia, (4) Data Coordinating Center, Boston University School of Public Health, 850 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02118, (5) General Internal Medicine, Clinical Addiction Research and Education (CARE) Unit, Boston University School of Medicine, 91 East Concord St., Suite 200, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA 02118

Objective: To assess the association between binge alcohol use and unprotected sex in a Russian population at high risk for HIV infection.

Methods: Participants (N=180) were narcology hospital patients undergoing the following assessments: demographics, number of partners and sex trade involvement [past 6 months], and self-reported STD/HIV diagnoses. Past 30 day alcohol use and unprotected sex (sex without a condom vs. sex with a condom or no sex) were determined using the timeline follow-back method. General estimating equations logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between binge drinking and unprotected sex across each of the past 30 days, adjusting for demographics, HIV risk behaviors, and STD/HIV diagnoses.

Results: Participant characteristics included the following: mean age 33.1 years (range 18-55); 75% male; 40% injection drug users (IDUs); 64% any binge drinking; 27% sex trade; 43% history of STDs; and 15% HIV+. Of 5400 days observed, 28% included sex (n=1528); 12% of these involved condom use (n=191/1528). Binge drinking was not associated with unprotected sex (ORadj=1.0, 95% CI=0.7-1.3); covariates that were predictors included sex trade involvement (ORadj=2.0, 95% CI=1.3-3.1), having 4 or more sex partners (ORadj=2.1, 95% CI=1.4-3.2) and having a primary sex partner (ORadj=2.8, 95% CI=1.7-4.7).

Conclusions: Sexual risk for acquisition and transmission of HIV is substantial in Russian alcohol and drug dependent persons in a hospital treatment setting, but binge drinking was not associated with unprotected sex. Absence of such an association may be in part a result of the overall very low condom use in this population.

Learning Objectives:

• To describe sexual risk for STD and HIV in a sexually active, urban Russian narcology hospital sample.
• To identify whether binge drinking is associated with same day unprotected sex among sexually active, Russian narcology hospital patients.
• To identify what types of STD/HIV risks (e.g., sex trade, multiple partners, STD/HIV diagnoses) are associated with unprotected sex among sexually active, Russian narcology hospital patients.

Keywords: Alcohol Use, Sexual Risk Behavior

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered