Wei Hua, MD, MS, MHS, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 1629 East Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21231, 410-502-5368, whua@jhsph.edu and Carl A. Latkin, PhD, Department of Health Policy & Manamgement, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, 624. N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205.

Gender, socioeconomic status, and risk-taking behaviors, including drug use, have been found to be associated with sexually transmitted infections (STIs). However, studies of individual level factors may not provide adequate explanation of STI transmission. In this study, we applied personal network methodology in a sample of STD clinic attendees to examine the effect of various network characteristics on STI adjusting for individual level factors among men and women and focused on the support functional aspect of social networks.

The data were collected as part of the ANCHOR (Assisting Network to Create Healthy Opportunities and Resources) study, an experimental intervention research study that encouraged participants to promote prevention of HIV and STIs among their network. Among 330 study participants, 16.8% of women and 33.3% of men were clinically diagnosed to have a recent STI. After controlling for other factors, women who had more non-kin in network (OR:1.5, 95%CI:1.1-2.0), less female in support network (OR:0.7, 95%CI:0.5-1.0), more network members they had conflict with (OR:1.6, 95%CI:1.0-2.78), higher frequency of contact with network member (OR:0.3, 95%CI:0.2-0.8), or weaker closeness tie (OR:0.7, 95%CI:0.6-0.9) were more likely to have a recent STI. Among men, number of drug users in support network (OR:1.2, 95%CI:1.0-1.5) was significantly associated with recent STI.

These findings suggest that networks that on average are more emotionally close and have more frequent interactions are protective for women but not for men. This information may be useful in increasing understanding of the dynamics of STI in social network environment and in promoting STI prevention.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of the session, learners in this session will be able to list a few variables measuring the support functional aspect of personal network and apply personal network methodology to examine risk factors.

Keywords: STD, STD Prevention

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.