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High-Risk Geographic Mobility Patterns among Young Urban and Suburban Persons who Inject Drugs and their Injection Network Members

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Abstract

Young people in the USA who inject drugs, particularly those at a risk of residence instability, experience the highest incidence of hepatitis C (HCV) infections. This study examined associations between geographic mobility patterns and sociodemographic, behavioral, and social network characteristics of 164 young (ages 18–30) persons who inject drugs (PWID). We identified a potential bridge sub-population who reported residence in both urban and suburban areas in the past year (crossover transients) and higher-risk behaviors (receptive syringe sharing, multiple sex partners) compared to their residentially localized counterparts. Because they link suburban and urban networks, crossover transients may facilitate transmission of HIV and HCV between higher and lower prevalence areas. Interventions should address risk associated with residential instability, particularly among PWID who travel between urban and suburban areas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health, 1603 W. Taylor St, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA

    Basmattee Boodram & Anna L. Hotton

  2. The Program for Experimental & Theoretical Modeling, Division of Hepatology, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL, USA

    Louis Shekhtman, Alexander Gutfraind & Harel Dahari

  3. Department of Physics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Louis Shekhtman

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  1. Basmattee Boodram
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  2. Anna L. Hotton
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  3. Louis Shekhtman
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  5. Harel Dahari
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Correspondence to Basmattee Boodram.

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The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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This study was funded by a pilot grant award from the Chicago Developmental Center for AIDS Research (Grant#5P30AI082151–04). Other funding to support work on this manuscript include an NIH grant (R01-AI078881) and internal funding from Loyola University Chicago. The funding sources were not directly involved in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data; in the writing of this report; or in the decision to submit the paper for publication.

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Anna L. Hotton and Louis Shekhtman are equal contributors

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Boodram, B., Hotton, A.L., Shekhtman, L. et al. High-Risk Geographic Mobility Patterns among Young Urban and Suburban Persons who Inject Drugs and their Injection Network Members. J Urban Health 95, 71–82 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-017-0185-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-017-0185-7

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