Comparison of sexual behaviour and risk of HIV transmission of Scottish inmates, with or without a history of intravenous drug use

Abstract

The sexual behaviour and intravenous drug use (IVDU) of a sample of 559 inmates (480 males and 79 females) was investigated. Sexual behaviour and IVDU prior to imprisonment, during imprisonment, and that expected after release, was assessed. Alterations in sexual behaviour as a means of HIV risk reduction was also assessed in relation to IVDU status. Prior to imprisonment most IVDUs and non-IVDUs engaged in unprotected intercourse. Sexual behaviour during imprisonment, as reported by inmates, was almost negligible for both groups. Expected sexual behaviour after imprisonment differed little from that before imprisonment for both IVDUs and non-IVDUs. Selecting partners more carefully and reducing their number was the most common method of HIV risk reduction for both IVDUs and non-IVDUs prior to imprisonment and was expected to be increasingly so after release. There was little difference in the sexual behaviour of IVDUs and non-IVDUs prior to imprisonment, during imprisonment, and as expected after release. However, IVDU inmates were more likely to have had an IVDU sexual partner than did non-IVDU inmates. Those IVDU inmates who had an HIV test, and those who had an IVDU sexual partner, were more likely to expect to continue IVDU after imprisonment. IVDU inmates, who had an IVDU sexual partner, were also more likely to have shared injected equipment but no more likely to have sterilized injecting equipment than did IVDU inmates whose sexual partner was not involved with IVDU. Results are discussed in relation to risk of HIV transmission for IVDUs and their sexual partners.