Sexual Risk Behaviors, HIV Knowledge and Attitudes Among Women Heroin Users in China: Implications for HIV Prevention

The current study examines sexual risk behaviors, HIV knowledge and attitudes among women heroin users in China. A sample of 167 women heroin users was recruited from a detoxification center located in Lanzhou City, China. Close to 80% of participants reported multiple sex partners in their lifetime, and more than half of married participants reported extramarital sex. Injection drug users were more likely to have multiple sex partners, extramarital sex and sex in exchange for drugs or money than non-injection heroin users. Nearly 80% of injection drug users and 46.1% of non-injection drug users exchanged sex for drugs or money in this study. The results show that sexual risk behaviors are common among women drug users in China and injection drug users are at a higher risk for HIV infection and transmission than non-injection drug users. Implications of the findings are discussed.