Medical and Health Consequences of HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse (From Drug Addiction Research and the Health of Women: Executive Summary, P 86-90, 1998, Cora Lee Wetherington and Adele B. Roman, eds. -- See NCJ-178171)

• NCJ Number: 178175
• Author(s): P. A. Selwyn
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 5 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC; paper from a national conference on "Drug Addiction Research and the Health of Women," September 1994.

Annotation

After providing an overview of the epidemiologic features of the AIDS epidemic, with attention to women, this paper reviews the findings of recent research on HIV and implications for improving women's health, followed by an outline of issues for future research.

Abstract

An overview of the epidemiologic features of the AIDS epidemic indicates that the rate of heterosexual transmission of AIDS has increased in the United States; in 1994 AIDS became the leading cause of death among young adult males and the fourth leading cause of death among young adult females. Injection drug use is the most important risk factor for HIV infection among women and accounts for half of all AIDS cases among women. Recent research on HIV shows that drug abuse, particularly of cocaine, is one of several factors that apparently increases the risk for HIV infection; a 1991 study in New York found that crack use, prostitution, and sex in exchange for drugs predicted HIV infection among women, but a history of syphilis was not a significant predictor. A 4-year study in Louisiana found that HIV-positive women who injected drugs were at greater risk of developing sexually transmitted diseases than HIV-positive women who did not inject drugs. Studies have shown a strong relationship between cervical dysplasia and HIV infection. No differences have been observed between drug abusers and those who did not use drugs in terms of HIV progression. Women who were drug dependent were found to be at high risk of violence and other abuse, but those who also were infected with HIV were at even greater risk. Among the issues recommended for future research are the elimination of barriers to health care for HIV- infected women and the development of new models of care that integrate approaches from the biological and social sciences. Questions from the audience and answers from the author are included.