Citation

Fuller CM, Borrell LN, Latkin CA, Galea S, Ompad DC, Strathdee SA, Vlahov D. Am. J. Public Health 2005; 95(4): 689-695.

Affiliation

Center for Infectious Disease Epidemiologic Research, Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168th St, 4th Floor, Room R422, New York, NY 10032, USA. cf317@columbia.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2003.02178

PMID

15798131

PMCID

PMC1449242

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: We investigated individual- and neighborhood-level factors associated with adolescent initiation of injection drug use. METHODS: Injection drug users (IDUs) who had been injecting 2 to 5 years underwent HIV testing and completed a sociobehavioral risk survey. Modeling techniques accounting for intraneighborhood correlations were used in data analyses. RESULTS: Adolescent-initiating IDUs were less likely than adult-initiating IDUs to report high-risk sex and injection behaviors and more likely to report high-risk networks. African American IDUs from neighborhoods with large percentages of minority residents and low adult educational levels were more likely to initiate injection during adolescence than White IDUs from neighborhoods with low percentages of minority residents and high adult education levels. CONCLUSIONS: Racial segregation and neighborhood-level educational attainment must be considered when drawing inferences about age at initiation of injection drug use and related high-risk behaviors.

Language: en