Differences in condom behaviors and beliefs among female drug users recruited from two cities

This paper examines predictors of condom cognitions and condom use for vaginal sex within women's main and paying partnerships. The sample consisted of active injection drug and crack-using women recruited from two cities with disparate HIV rates. A total of 338 drug-using women who reported vaginal sex with a main and/or paying partner in the prior 30 days were recruited for this study. Recruitment site was a significant predictor for several of the variables examined, for both main and paying partners. Ethnicity and prior HIV test result were also significant predictors, but only for main sex partners. Findings support previous research and suggest that the factors which predict condom beliefs, intention, and behaviors are different for main versus paying partners. Interventions designed to increase condom use must recognize that cognitive factors associated with condom use may vary by partner type, ethnicity, and recruitment site, particularly when important contextual variables, such as local seroprevalence, vary.