AIMS: To assess among injecting drug users (IDUs) in St. Petersburg, Russia, the urban environment, social norms and individual correlates of unsafe injecting. METHODS:Between December 2004 and January 2007, 446 IDUs were interviewed in St. Petersburg, Russia. RESULTS:Prevalence of HCV was 96% and HIV 44%. 17% reported receptive syringe sharing after an HIV-infected IDU, 49% distributive syringe sharing, 76% sharing cookers, 73% sharing filters and 71% syringe-mediated drug sharing when not all syringes were new. Urban environmental characteristics correlated with sharing cookers and syringe-mediated sharing, and social norms correlated with receptive and distributive syringe sharing and sharing cookers. Individual correlates included cleaning used syringes (all 5 dependent variables) and self-report of HIV infection (receptive and distributive syringe sharing). CONCLUSION: HIV status disclosure is an unreliable but frequently used HIV prevention method among IDUs in St. Petersburg, who reported alarmingly high levels of injecting equipment sharing. Voluntary counseling and testing should be widely available for this population. Ethnography is needed to assess the effectiveness of the syringe cleaning process. Prevention interventions need to be ongoing among IDUs in St. Petersburg, and should incorporate urban environmental factors and social norms, which may involve peer education and social network interventions. Copyright 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.
RCT Entities:
AIMS: To assess among injecting drug users (IDUs) in St. Petersburg, Russia, the urban environment, social norms and individual correlates of unsafe injecting. METHODS: Between December 2004 and January 2007, 446 IDUs were interviewed in St. Petersburg, Russia. RESULTS: Prevalence of HCV was 96% and HIV 44%. 17% reported receptive syringe sharing after an HIV-infected IDU, 49% distributive syringe sharing, 76% sharing cookers, 73% sharing filters and 71% syringe-mediated drug sharing when not all syringes were new. Urban environmental characteristics correlated with sharing cookers and syringe-mediated sharing, and social norms correlated with receptive and distributive syringe sharing and sharing cookers. Individual correlates included cleaning used syringes (all 5 dependent variables) and self-report of HIV infection (receptive and distributive syringe sharing). CONCLUSION: HIV status disclosure is an unreliable but frequently used HIV prevention method among IDUs in St. Petersburg, who reported alarmingly high levels of injecting equipment sharing. Voluntary counseling and testing should be widely available for this population. Ethnography is needed to assess the effectiveness of the syringe cleaning process. Prevention interventions need to be ongoing among IDUs in St. Petersburg, and should incorporate urban environmental factors and social norms, which may involve peer education and social network interventions. Copyright 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.
Authors: Tim Rhodes; Lucy Platt; Ali Judd; Larissa Albertovna Mikhailova; Anya Sarang; Nigel Wallis; Tatiana Alpatova; Matthew Hickman; John V Parry Journal: Int J STD AIDS Date: 2005-11 Impact factor: 1.359
Authors: Don C Des Jarlais; Theresa Perlis; Kamyar Arasteh; Holly Hagan; Judith Milliken; Naomi Braine; Stanley Yancovitz; Donna Mildvan; David C Perlman; Carey Maslow; Samuel R Friedman Journal: J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Date: 2004-02-01 Impact factor: 3.731
Authors: Andrei P Kozlov; Alla V Shaboltas; Olga V Toussova; Sergei V Verevochkin; Benoit R Masse; Tom Perdue; Geetha Beauchamp; Wayne Sheldon; William C Miller; Rober Heimer; Robert W Ryder; Irving F Hoffman Journal: AIDS Date: 2006-04-04 Impact factor: 4.177
Authors: V Anna Gyarmathy; Nan Li; Karin E Tobin; Irving F Hoffman; Nikolai Sokolov; Julia Levchenko; Julia Batluk; Andrei A Kozlov; Andrei P Kozlov; Carl A Latkin Journal: AIDS Behav Date: 2011-01
Authors: Javier A Cepeda; Veronika A Odinokova; Robert Heimer; Lauretta E Grau; Alexandra Lyubimova; Liliya Safiullina; Olga S Levina; Linda M Niccolai Journal: AIDS Behav Date: 2011-07
Authors: Olga V Toussova; Andrei P Kozlov; Sergei V Verevochkin; Kathryn E Lancaster; Alla V Shaboltas; Alexei Masharsky; Elena Dukhovlinova; William C Miller; Irving F Hoffman Journal: AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses Date: 2018-01-17 Impact factor: 2.205
Authors: Irving F Hoffman; Carl A Latkin; Polina V Kukhareva; Sergey V Malov; Julia V Batluk; Alla V Shaboltas; Roman V Skochilov; Nicolay V Sokolov; Sergei V Verevochkin; Michael G Hudgens; Andrei P Kozlov Journal: AIDS Behav Date: 2013-09
Authors: Elena Dukhovlinova; Alexey Masharsky; Olga Toussova; Sergei Verevochkin; Tatiana Solovyeva; Maria Meringof; Elijah Paintsil; Edward White; Russell Barbour; Robert Heimer; Andrei Kozlov Journal: AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses Date: 2015-01-05 Impact factor: 2.205
Authors: V Anna Gyarmathy; Nan Li; Karin E Tobin; Irving F Hoffman; Nikolai Sokolov; Julia Levchenko; Julia Batluk; Andrei A Kozlov; Andrei P Kozlov; Carl A Latkin Journal: AIDS Behav Date: 2009-02-13
Authors: Andrei P Kozlov; Roman V Skochilov; Olga V Toussova; Sergey V Verevochkin; Tatiana V Krasnoselskikh; Sergey V Malov; Alla V Shaboltas Journal: Medicine (Baltimore) Date: 2016-11 Impact factor: 1.889
Authors: Emma Jolley; Tim Rhodes; Lucy Platt; Vivian Hope; Alisher Latypov; Martin Donoghoe; David Wilson Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2012-10-18 Impact factor: 2.692