The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #46261

Vincent Del Casino, PhD¹, Dennis G. Fisher, PhD², and Michele M. Wood, MS². (1) Department of Geography, California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840, 5629852357, vdelcasi@csulb.edu, (2) Center for Behavioral Research & Services, California State University, Long Beach, 1090 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90813

Objective: To extend the RBA instrument to more fully address the geography of drug and alcohol risk behavior. The Instrument: The RBA is an instrument that was originally designed as part of a NIDA cooperative agreement. The RBA is used to collect demographic, general drug use, drug injecting, drug use in over last 48 hours, drug treatment, sexual activity, sex for money/drugs, health, and work and income of drug users. Spatializing the RBA: While the RBA contains basic geographic questions related to living conditions, it does not take into account the highly mobile nature of drug use and the importance of place as it relates to drug use. In order to capture the "where" of drug use, we need to add questions that ask specifically in what places do people use particular drugs. Importantly, we need to address where drugs were injected in the last 48 hours, the most common place that a drug user injects drugs, and where are drug users most likely to share drugs and drug paraphernalia. Implications: Collecting baseline geographic data can inform new interventions. We may find, for example, that drug users are more likely to inject in alleys because they are homeless. Providing drug users, therefore, with a clean water supply might facilitate needle cleaning and reduce the risk of the transmission of HIV or hepatitis from one person to another. Until we better understand the geography of drug use and risk behavior, we will not be able to provide effective interventions into such areas as HIV risk prevention.

Learning Objectives:

• Construct an instrument that more effectively investigates the geography of injection drug use.
• Apply geographic analysis to the RBA that expands the analytic power of this widely used instrument.

Keywords: Drug Injectors, Drug Use

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.