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Drug users: a potentially important bridge population in the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, in China.

Liu H, Grusky O, Li X, Ma E

Prevention Research Center, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48201-2196, USA. hongjie@med.wayne.edu

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine risk characteristics among bridge and nonbridge drug users. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was conducted among drug users. Drug users who shared needles and engaged in sex with both high-risk partners and low-risk partners were defined as bridgers. RESULTS: A total of 312 drug users were recruited, among whom 49.4% (154) were bridgers. Among bridgers, 83.1% injected drugs and 35% shared needles in the past month. Eighty-seven percent (134) of bridgers had one or more commercial sex partners in the past year. Only 3.9% of the bridgers and 4.6% of nonbridgers consistently used condoms with regular sex partners. Fifty-eight percent of bridgers and 46.8% of nonbridgers tested positive for hepatitis C virus, whereas 15.6% of bridgers and 7% of nonbridgers tested positive for syphilis. CONCLUSIONS: The pervasiveness of bridgers among drug users and their risky sexual behavior underscore their role in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Published 24 January 2006 in Sex Transm Dis, 33(2): 111-7.
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