SEXUAL RISK BEHAVIOR CHANGES AMONG HIV- FEMALE INJECTING DRUG-USERS OVER 4 YEARS( AND HIV )

This paper examines the sexual risk behavior of female injecting drug users who participated in a 4 year longitudinal study. Both HIV+ and H IV- women showed increases in monogamy, decreases in the frequency of unprotected vaginal/anal sex, and decreases in a risk index score thro ughout the study. HIV+ women had fewer occasions of unprotected sex th an HIV-. However, a substantial proportion of the sample continued to engage in unprotected sex. Among the HIV+ women, depressed mood was si gnificantly related to abstinence and to fewer occasions of unprotecte d sex, but CD4, medical symptoms, neurological impairment, and memory test performance were not associated with sexual risk behavior.