CHANGES IN HIV RISK BEHAVIORS AMONG COCAINE-USING METHADONE PATIENTS

Cocaine use among methadone patients has been related to higher preval ence of HIV risk behaviors. HIV risk behaviors for cocaine-using patie nts in methadone treatment (N = 207) were examined for two time period s, the current month in-treatment and the month previous to treatment admission. All needle-related and sexually-related risk behaviors (exc ept for needle hygiene) significantly and substantially declined over the average two year time interval. Several variables were associated with needle and sexual risks in multivariate regression analyses. Drop ping apparent opiate use underreporters from the analyses did not alte r the results. From a harm reduction perspective, high priority should be given to retaining cocaine-using patients in methadone maintenance , intensifying in-program services for those with antisocial personali ty, bipolar disorder or alcoholism, as well as increasing access to ne edle exchanges and free condoms.