Substance use and HIV risk profile of gay/bisexual males who drop out of substance abuse treatment

This analysis was undertaken to identify (a) the level of HIV sexual risk b ehaviors of men who drop out of treatment and (b) baseline variables associ ated with later treatment dropout. A cross-sectional sample of 340 gay/bise xual men were recruited from an outpatient substance abuse treatment facili ty in San Francisco. We compared participants who completed less than 15 vi sits with participants who graduated from the program. Men who dropped out were more likely than treatment graduates to report injection drug use, soc ial problems related to substance use, self-blaming coping strategies, and more recent substance use prior to entering treatment and less likely to ha ve a college degree, report using sex for tension relief, and have previous ly attended Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous. Given the strong L ink between the substance abuse and HN epidemics, substance abuse treatment agencies have been forced into addressing the issues of HIV sexual risk ta king with their clients. Strategies toward reducing substance use relapse a nd HIV risk reduction are offered.