Racial/ethnic disparities in HIV prevalence among injectors in the US have been substantial and persistent; disparities also exist in the use of health services to prevent and treat HIV. New approaches are needed to explain and eliminate these disparities, and NIDA, the CDC, the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, and Healthy People 2020 have called for research and interventions into the ways in which characteristics of the places where people live create and perpetuate disparities in HIV and in HIV-related health service use. The proposed study will undertake the most comprehensive analysis ever conducted in the US of the relationships of place characteristics to racial/ethnic disparities in HIV-related health and health service use among injectors. Because the CDC has granted us access to its 2009 and 2012 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) databases on injectors, we will be able to describe geographic and temporal variations in racial/ethnic disparities among injectors in a range of HIV-related health and health service outcomes, some of which have never been studied before. By integrating 2009 and 2012 NHBS data with existing administrative databases, we will be able to pioneer analyses of how previously-unstudied but potentially powerful place characteristics relate to disparities. Many place characteristics can be modified, and we will focus on identifying modifiable characteristics that are associated with reducing disparities. We will achieve the following aims:
Aim 1 : Document geographic variations in racial/ethnic disparities in HIV-related health and health service outcomes among injectors in 2012, and describe changes in these disparities over time (2009-2012).
Aim 2 : Describe variations in exposure to features of the health service environment, drug-related criminal justice environment, and socioeconomic environment across racial/ethnic groups of injectors in 2012, and describe changes in these exposures between 2009-2012.
Aim 3 : Analyze 2012 data to describe relationships of the health service, drug-related criminal justice, and socioeconomic environments to disparities in HIV-related health and health service outcomes among injectors. Apply population attributable risk and Blinder-Oaxaca methods to examine the associations of specific environmental features to disparities in detail.
Aim 4 : Analyze how changes in injectors' health service, drug-related criminal justice, and socioeconomic environments are related to changes in disparities over time (2009-2012).
Aim 5 : Draw on findings generated in Aims 1-4 to develop agent-based models (ABMs) of the possible effects of changing specific environmental features on disparities in HIV-related health and health service outcomes among injectors. Innovations are designed to enhance the study's impact on policies and interventions and include applying Blinder-Oaxaca methods, population attributable risk analyses, and ABMs. A strong team will achieve this study's aims, including Drs. Hannah Cooper, Don Des Jarlais, and Samuel Friedman. Our expertise spans key methods (e.g., geospatial and multilevel methods, ABMs), substance (e.g., social determinants of HIV), and dissemination strategies to promote impact.

Public Health Relevance

NIDA, the CDC, the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, and Healthy People 2020 have all prioritized eliminating racial/ethnic disparities in HIV and in HIV-related health service use, and have called for research and interventions into the ways in which place characteristics create and perpetuate these disparities. The proposed study responds to these calls by (a) identifying US geographic areas that have high or increasing disparities in a range of HIV-related health and health service outcomes among injectors, and (b) generating new knowledge about how a variety of previously unstudied but potentially important place characteristics relate to these disparities. Results will help target resources and interventions t high-need geographic areas, and will support the development of new interventions and policies to eliminate disparities in HIV-related health and health service outcomes among injectors.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
4R01DA035101-04
Application #
9012057
Study Section
Behavioral and Social Science Approaches to Preventing HIV/AIDS Study Section (BSPH)
Program Officer
Kahana, Shoshana Y
Project Start
2013-02-01
Project End
2018-01-31
Budget Start
2016-02-01
Budget End
2017-01-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
$493,063
Indirect Cost
$98,464
Name
Emory University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Public Health
DUNS #
066469933
City
Atlanta
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30322
Tempalski, Barbara; Cooper, Hannah L F; Kelley, Mary E et al. (2018) Identifying Which Place Characteristics are Associated with the Odds of Recent HIV Testing in a Large Sample of People Who Inject Drugs in 19 US Metropolitan Areas. AIDS Behav :
Linton, Sabriya L; Cooper, Hannah Lf; Kelley, Mary E et al. (2017) Cross-sectional association between ZIP code-level gentrification and homelessness among a large community-based sample of people who inject drugs in 19 US cities. BMJ Open 7:e013823
Cooper, Hannah L F; Arriola, Kimberly Jacob; Haardörfer, Regine et al. (2016) Population-Attributable Risk Percentages for Racialized Risk Environments. Am J Public Health 106:1789-92
Cooper, Hannah L F; Fullilove, Mindy (2016) Editorial: Excessive Police Violence as a Public Health Issue. J Urban Health 93 Suppl 1:1-7
Cooper, Hannah L F; West, Brooke; Linton, Sabriya et al. (2016) Contextual Predictors of Injection Drug Use Among Black Adolescents and Adults in US Metropolitan Areas, 1993-2007. Am J Public Health 106:517-26
Cooper, Hannah L F; Linton, Sabriya; Kelley, Mary E et al. (2016) Racialized risk environments in a large sample of people who inject drugs in the United States. Int J Drug Policy 27:43-55
Linton, Sabriya L; Cooper, Hannah L F; Kelley, Mary E et al. (2016) Associations of place characteristics with HIV and HCV risk behaviors among racial/ethnic groups of people who inject drugs in the United States. Ann Epidemiol 26:619-630.e2
Cooper, Hannah L F (2015) War on Drugs Policing and Police Brutality. Subst Use Misuse 50:1188-94
Linton, Sabriya L; Cooper, Hannah L F; Kelley, Mary E et al. (2015) HIV Infection Among People Who Inject Drugs in the United States: Geographically Explained Variance Across Racial and Ethnic Groups. Am J Public Health 105:2457-65
Cooper, Hannah L F; Tempalski, Barbara (2014) Integrating place into research on drug use, drug users' health, and drug policy. Int J Drug Policy 25:503-7