Reducing Women's HIV Risk Focus of Study

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Improving the understanding of women's alcohol use and risky sexual behavior and the impact of alcohol treatment on women's HIV risk behaviors are the goals of research to be conducted under a $2.4 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to a researcher at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions (RIA).

Kurt H. Dermen, Ph.D., RIA senior research scientist leading the study, explained, "Most people think, and there is evidence supporting this, that drinking can contribute to risky sexual behavior and increased risk for HIV infection. Because we know women in alcohol treatment programs have a higher risk of HIV, we want to develop more efficient, targeted HIV-prevention programs for them."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of new AIDS cases per year among men in the United States has remained relatively unchanged over the past several years. Among women, however, the occurrence of AIDS is increasing.

"Four out of five women who become infected with HIV contract it through sexual contact with men, so prevention efforts with women need to focus on encouraging safer sexual behavior," says Dermen.

Relatively few women have been included in past research on HIV risk among individuals with alcohol problems. The newly funded project, which focuses solely on women, will fill critical gaps in existing data.

The "Women's HOPE" (Health Opinions, Perceptions, and Experiences) Study will recruit 300 women from outpatient treatment programs and 150 women from inpatient treatment programs to participate in the research. Women will be asked about substance use, sexual behavior and related experiences, attitudes and beliefs.

Dermen and colleagues are interested in how different treatment experiences, individual characteristics, and other factors in women's lives impact alcohol and other drug use and risky sexual behaviors, such as having multiple partners and having sex without using condoms. Clients will be interviewed when admitted to treatment and again at three-month intervals during the following year.

Primary questions to be answered will relate to how drinking influences sexual behavior and whether reducing drinking among women in treatment leads to a reduction in risky sex.

"Being intoxicated may make it seem less 'important' to use protection against HIV," explained Dermen. "However, heavy drinking may, for instance, also get in the way of a woman's keeping a job, which could leave her financially dependent on a male sexual partner. Under these circumstances, a woman may find it more difficult to insist on using condoms during sex."

The study will run for four years and provide employment to six full-time staff members. Dermen's co-investigator on the study is Maria Testa, Ph.D., a senior research scientist at RIA, adjunct associate professor in the School of Social Work, and research associate professor in the Department of Psychology.

The Research Institute on Addictions has been a leader in the study of addictions since 1970 and a research center of the University at Buffalo since 1999.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, the largest and most comprehensive campus in the State University of New York.