Risk-entailing sexual behavior and drug consumption in addiction treatment centers in Latin American countries

ABSTRACTObjective: To identify the features of drug consumption, risk-entailing sexual conduct, and the typology of addiction treatment center users in Mexico and Central America. Methods: The information source was integrated using two databases built from two studies carried out at addiction treatment centers in eight countries. A total of 622 male drug users, aged over 18 years and sexually active during the last year, were included. Chi-square and ANOVA tests were used to perform a statistic analysis. For user characterization, a typology was established using a factorial analys is as well as a cluster analysis. Results: Significant differences were identified between countries regarding the socio-demographic variables, tobacco, and illicit drug consumption sometime during the individual lives, licit and illicit drug consumption over the last 12 months, and risk-entailing sexual conduct. The countries that reported HIV-positive cases were Mexico and Belize. After classification, three clusters were id...