This Small Grant application investigates a low-cost technology to increase the epidemiological value of a major survey of arrestees to address several issues in the Drug Abuse Aspects of AIDS. This experienced investigator plans to assess the utility and practicality of two technologies (pregnancy testing and HIV testing) by using anonymously collected urine specimens from the Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) Program sponsored by the National Institute of Justice. DUF is a major national data collection system measuring drug abuse (via self-reports and urinalysis) among those arrested and booked for felony and misdemeanor crimes. These data would be much more valuable to public health constituencies if this project can demonstrate the utility and practicality:
AIM A. of HIV testing of anonymous urine specimens for documenting levels and spread of HIV in a high-risk population (arrestees in the DUF program);
AIM B. of pregnancy testing of anonymous urine specimens and self-reports of pregnancy and fertility for documenting pregnancy rates and possible vertical transmission of HIV among female arrestees. The investigator shows that: DUF provides large samples, excellent trend data, and extensive data about arrestees who are persons at very high risk for HIV and many other social problems. Prior studies have shown that urine-based HIV-antibody tests provide results equivalent to blood-based tests for research purposes. About half of IDUs in New York are seropositive, but serostatus is not well documented nor routinely available for non-IDU drug abusers nor among criminals. Pregnancy rates and recent fertility experiences among female arrestees are not well documented. The serostatus of pregnant arrestees is unknown. All DUF-Manhattan urine specimens will be analyzed for HIV status and for pregnancy (females only). Likewise, a self-reported """"""""fertility and children"""""""" supplement to the DUF-Manhattan interview will be developed and data collected during seven quarters generating about 2,300 cases with complete data from Jan. '93 thru April '95. Several analytic reports will be written about seropositivity, pregnancy, vertical transmission, and other topics for publication in professional journals.
