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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Glorimar Caraballo-Correa, BS, Carmen E. Albizu-García, MD, and Adriana Hernández, BS. Center for Evaluation and Sociomedical Research, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 365067, San Juan, PR 00936-5067, 787.758.3189, gcaraballo@rcm.upr.edu

Background: Although many inmates in the US prison systems have a history of drug use, little is known about initiation of drug use in prison and the drug use behaviors in which they incur. We report prevalence of initiation, type of drug used by initiators and compare risky drug use behaviors for HIV contagion between initiators and inmates whose drug use began prior to imprisonment (non-initiators).

Methods: A survey was conducted with a representative sample of the sentenced inmate population of the Puerto Rican correctional institutions in 2005. Data was obtained from 1,179 respondents (89.7% response rate) using structured questionnaires administered through two interview modalities: Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) for social and health variables and Audio Computer Assisted Self Interview (ACASI) for sensitive information related to drug use behaviors in prison.

Findings: Nearly 5% of all drug users initiated their drug use during the present incarceration and 98% of these reported being HIV negative vs. 91% of non-initiators. . Heroin (48%) and Cocaine (36%) were the most used drugs. Over half of new heroin users (58%) inject. Risky injection practices were similar among initiators and non-initiators.

Conclusion: Considering that 98% of the initiators report to be HIV negative and that there are no significant differences in drug injection behaviors between initiators and non-initiators, efforts to reduce the likelihood of adverse health outcomes associated with injection should be implemented in the correctional setting.

Learning Objectives: At the end of the session participants will be able to

• Recognize that drug use initiation occurs while in prison.
• Analyze the public health implications of drug use initiation for the prevention of HIV contagion in the prison population

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered