The outcomes of counseling and testing programs related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and risk of infection among injection drug users (IDUs) are not well known or understood. A counseling and testing outcome of potential public health importance is attaining admission to drug abuse treatment by those IDUs who are either infected or who are at high risk of becoming infected. The authors investigated factors related to admission to drug abuse treatment among 519 IDUs who received HIV counseling and testing from September 1987 through December 1990 at a men's prison and at community-based testing sites in Worcester, MA. By June 1991, 123 of the 519 IDUs (24 percent) had been admitted to treatment. Variables associated with their admission included a long history of drug injection, frequent recent drug injection, cleaning injection equipment using bleach, prior drug treatment, and a positive HIV test result. Logistic regression analyses, controlling for effects of recruitment site, year, sex, and area of residence, generally confirmed the associations. IDUs in the study population who were HIV-infected sought treatment or were admitted to treatment more frequently than those who were not infected. The results indicate that access to drug abuse treatment should be facilitated for high-risk IDUs and for those who have begun to inject drugs recently.
Bostelman, S; Callan, M; Rolincik, L C; Gantt, M; Herink, M; King, J; Massey, M K; Morehouse, D; Sopata, T; Turner, J;
Published Date:
1994 Mar-Apr
Source:
Public Health Rep. 109(2):153-157
Description:
Rehospitalization of mentally ill persons has been associated mainly with two major factors, noncompliance with the prescribed course of medication and noncompliance with planned aftercare. The authors developed and pilot tested a community health pr...
Palfrey, J S; Haynie, M; Porter, S; Fenton, T; Cooperman-Vincent, P; Shaw, D; Johnson, B; Bierle, T; Walker, D K;
Published Date:
1994 Mar-Apr
Source:
Public Health Rep. 109(2):226-233
Description:
In 1987 and 1990 in Massachusetts, surveys were conducted to determine the size, pattern of distribution, and trends in the population of children assisted by medical technology. The authors obtained an unduplicated count of all Massachusetts childre...
Graduates of MEDEX Northwest, the physician assistant training program at the University of Washington, were surveyed to describe differences between physician assistants practicing in rural settings and those practicing in urban settings. Difference...
The question of identifying and treating childhood illness confronts all new parents. Misconceptions often lead parents to manage illnesses in their young children inappropriately through overly aggressive treatment or insufficient attention. This re...
Teenagers are a crucial target group for interventions concerning acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Experimenting with their burgeoning sexuality and increased ability to obtain drugs, they are prime ca...
Increasingly, public health interventions are dependent on effective health communications. There are, however, few data examining the relationship and interactions between local public health officers and representatives of the media in the literatu...
Frank mental disorders, such as depression and panic disorder, are prevalent in primary care; they cause people substantial suffering and interfere with daily functioning. Even subthreshold or "subsyndromal" conditions, with fewer symptoms than neces...
Bicycle helmet use in the United States has remained low despite clear demonstration of its beneficial effect on reducing the incidence of serious head injury. Several interventions have been reported, with variable results and costs. Much of the rec...
The American public saved more than $39 billion (1990 dollars) in dental expenditures from 1979 through 1989 in contrast to the substantial increases in expenditures in other sectors of the U.S. health care system that have pushed the system to the b...
Violence is devastating the lives of children in America's major cities. The problem of violence is particularly acute among disadvantaged young urban males. This program focuses on violence prevention in school-age boys using creative educational te...
The purpose of the study is to determine the educational needs of public health officials concerning their knowledge, attitude, beliefs, and practices with specific reference to ionizing radiation. The public health directors or designates, working i...
Onorato, Ida M.; Gwinn, Marta; Dondero, Timothy J.;
Published Date:
1994 Mar-Apr
Source:
Public Health Rep. 109(2):204-211
Description:
The CDC Family of Surveys is a national serologic surveillance system set up to characterize the extent of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in the United States. The now Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and participating S...
Sugarman, Jonathan R.; Brenneman, George; LaRoque, William; Warren, Charles W.; Goldberg, Howard I.;
Published Date:
1994 Mar-Apr
Source:
Public Health Rep. 109(2):243-250
Description:
Although more than two-thirds of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI) live outside reservations and Tribal lands, few data sets describe social and maternal-child health risk factors among urban AI. The Indian Health Service sponsored a special e...
Thacker, Stephen B.; Koplan, Jeffrey P.; Taylor, William R.; Hinman, Alan R.; Katz, Martha F.; Roper, William L.;
Published Date:
1994 Mar-Apr
Source:
Public Health Rep. 109(2):187-194
Description:
The measure of the effectiveness of health promotion and disease prevention activities is the impact of prevention policies, programs, and practices on public health and clinical medicine. Assessing prevention effectiveness involves continuing quanti...
Agócs, Mary M.; Trent, Roger B.; Russell, Deborah M.;
Published Date:
1994 Mar-Apr
Source:
Public Health Rep. 109(2):290-295
Description:
Statewide surveillance in California determined that the highest drowning rate from 1980 through 1989 was for the rural, desert county of Imperial (21.9 drownings per 100,000 population). To identify activities associated with drowning in this county...
Knowing the reasons some physicians do not adhere to the disease prevention and treatment recommendations of expert committees can assist in the development of future recommendations more likely to be adopted by physicians. The authors describe the a...
This study investigated the self-reported awareness of the presence of product warning messages and signs among random samples of Hispanics in San Francisco surveyed in 1990 and in 1991. The messages that were tested related to cigarettes, alcoholic ...
We undertook a study of the role of methadone maintenance in protecting injecting drug users (IDUs) from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection from the earliest days of the HIV epidemic in New York City to the present. The historical context o...
Analyses of the 1988 National Survey of Adolescent Males indicate the prevalence of risk behaviors related to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, including sexual, contraceptive, and drug use behaviors, among 15- to 19-year-old men. About three-fifth...
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (U.S.), Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention.
Published Date:
April 2015
Description:
Fast facts:• HIV infections due to injection drug use have declined, but injecting drugs remains a significant risk.• Sharing syringes is a direct route of HIV transmission.• In one study, two out of five people who inject drugs and were diagno...
Valdiserri, Ronald O.; Moore, Melinda; Gerber, A. Russell; Campbell, Carl H.; Dillon, Beth A.; West, Gary R.;
Published Date:
1993 Jan-Feb
Source:
Public Health Rep. 108(1):12-18
Description:
Pretest and posttest counseling have become standard components of prevention-oriented human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody testing programs. However, not all persons who receive pretest counseling and testing return for posttest counseling. R...