Are We Reaching and Enrolling at-Risk Drug Users for Prevention Studies?

Abstract

The St. Louis EachOneTeachOne (EOTO) project is a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded cooperative agreement aimed at examining rates of HIV risk behaviors and studying HIV risk reduction interventions among out-of-treatment injection and crack cocaine drug users. This paper uses data collected during the first year of recruitment and enrollment to document the effect of street outreach on HIV risk behavior involvement. The major findings are that: (1) men reported more HIV risk behaviors than did women, but the results failed to show striking racial or ethnic differences; (2) we successfully enrolled women in spite of the fact that our women street contacts were largely ineligible to enroll in EOTO; and (3) actual EOTO enrollees, compared with all street contacts and eligible street contacts, engaged in fewer HIV risk behaviors. These results imply that strategies in addition to street outreach may be needed to enlist more individuals, particularly whites and women who are engaging in the highest risk drug and sexual behaviors.