This study examined the associations between preincarceration risky sex and drug behaviors and HIV status among incarcerated women. A consecutive sample of 805 women felons admitted to the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women between July 1991 and November 1992 was interviewed. Of these women, 700 granted permission to access their prison medical records and had complete information on relevant variables. Four percent of the women inmates were HIV positive. Over 80% of the women inconsistently used condoms during intercourse, and over 15% injected drugs, had a drug-injecting sex partner, and exchanged sex for money/drugs. The exchange of sex for money/drugs was associated with being HIV positive. The study findings suggest that prison-based HIV prevention programs should emphasize sexual and drug risk-reduction strategies as a means to reduce the heterosexual HIV risks facing women inmates once released back into the general community.
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