MULTIPLE PARTNERS, RISKY PARTNERS AND HIV RISK AMONG LOW-INCOME URBANWOMEN

A sample of 671 predominantly single, young black women living in 10 l ow-income housing developments in five cities completed an anonymous q uestionnaire assessing factors related to their risk of contracting th e human immunodeficiency virus, including their sexual behavior and co ndom use, and their partners' risk-related behaviors. In the two month s before the 1994 survey 17% of the women had sex with multiple partne rs and 22% had an exclusive partner who either had had other sexual pa rtners in the past year or had a history of injection drug use; 40% ha d an exclusive partner who they believed had not engaged in these risk y behaviors. During the same interval, 26% of women who had multiple p artners received treatment fora sexually transmitted disease, compared with 9-11% of those who had an exclusive relationship. Condom use at last intercourse and communications about condom use were less frequen t among women with an exclusive, risky partner than among those with m ultiple partners, attitudinal barriers to condom use did not vary; how ever,by the characteristics of women's relationships.