The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #67970

William W. Latimer, PhD, MPH¹, Pricilla Reddy, PhD, MPH², and Leah J. Floyd, PhD¹. (1) Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 624 N. Broadway, Hampton House/ Suite 794, Baltimore, MD 21205, 410-955-3960, wlatimer@jhsph.edu, (2) Medical Research Council of South Africa, Francie van Zijl Drive, Parrow Valley, Cape Town, South Africa

Southern Africa has long been facing a catastrophic HIV/AIDS crisis. At the end of 2001, more than 28 million of the world's estimated 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS were from Sub-Saharan Africa (AIDS, 2002). In South Africa, more than 4.7 million people are infected with HIV (AIDS, 2002). While studies in Africa have recently begun to examine social-behavioral HIV risk factors, virtually unknown are the patterns of neurocognitive dysfunction that result from the use of various drugs as well as the degree to which resulting cognitive deficits are associated with elevated injection- and sex-risk behaviors the lead to HIV infection. This presentation will describe organizational activities and summarize preliminary data collected for a NIDA-funded project to examine neurocognitive risk factors of HIV seroconversion among injection and non-injection drug users in South Africa. The primary aim of the longitudinal pilot study is to estimate the magnitude of a suspected causal relationship between executive dysfunction and HIV-risk behaviors, while adjusting for time-invariant (e.g., sex, ethnicity) and time-varying (e.g., degree of drug abuse) covariates. We also seek to evaluate the degree to which variations in drug type, frequency, and route of administration lead to distinct executive dysfunctions that predispose South African drug users to engage in high risk injection practices or sex behaviors.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to:
• Identify neuro-cognitive and social-behavioral HIV risk factors, in South African Drug Users.
• Recognize the degree to which variations in drug type, frequency, and route of administration lead to distinct executive dysfunctions that predispose South African drug users to engage in high risk injection practices or sex behaviors.

Keywords: International Public Health, HIV Risk Behavior

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.