219038 Crack smoking among recent and non-recent Puerto Rican migrants residing in New York City: Migratory and acculturative differences

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Alexis Rivera, MPH , Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies, The New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY
Crystal Fuller, PhD, MPH , Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY
Silvia Amesty, MD, MPH, MSEd , Center for Family and Community Medicine, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY
Danielle C. Ompad, PhD , Supportive Children's Advocacy Network, c/o HCAP, Harlem Community & Academic Partnership, New York, NY
Background: Across Latino groups, migrant status and acculturation have been shown to predict drug use (including crack use), related risk behaviors, and HIV. We examined social, behavioral, and cultural factors associated with migrant status (recent vs. non-recent) and current crack smoking among Puerto Rican-born drug users in New York City (NYC). Methods: A street-intercept sample of drug users was recruited from impoverished neighborhoods in NYC. The analysis was restricted to Puerto Rican migrants and binary logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with migratory status and current crack smoking. Results: Of 202 participants recruited, 39.1% were recent migrants, and 45.6% were current crack smokers. In multivariate analyses, recent migrants (≤ 5 years in NYC) were older at the time of migration (AOR=1.5) compared to non-recent migrants. Current crack smokers were more likely to initiate crack use prior to migration (AOR=9.59) and to be non-recent migrants (AOR=0.24) compared to non-crack smokers. Acculturation was not significantly associated with migration or current crack use status. Conclusion: These data suggest that acculturation was not related to current crack smoking among Puerto Rican drug users in NYC. Age at migration to NYC may be increasing among Puerto Rican drug users suggesting the initiation of drug use, such as crack use, may occur prior to arrival to the U.S. and that the crack epidemic in Puerto Rico has declined. Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings and longitudinally examine changes in drug use status over time among recent NYC migrants.

Learning Areas:
Epidemiology
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Determine the social, behavioral, and cultural factors associated with migrant status (recent vs. non-recent) and current crack smoking among Puerto Rican-born drug users in New York City.

Keywords: Drug Use, Migrant Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified because I am the coordinator of several research studies regarding drug use in the black and Latino populations in New York City
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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