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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2006.102624v1 98/6/1036    most recent Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Ramirez-Valles, J. Articles by Heckathorn, D. D. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Ramirez-Valles, J. Articles by Heckathorn, D. D.

Jesus Ramirez-Valles, PhD, MPH, Dalia Garcia, MA, Richard T. Campbell, PhD, Rafael M. Diaz, PhD, MSW and Douglas D. Heckathorn, PhD

Jesus Ramirez-Valles, Dalia Garcia, and Richard T. Campbell are with the University of Illinois, Chicago. Rafael M. Diaz is with San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA. Douglas D. Heckathorn is with Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Jesus Ramirez-Valles, PhD, MPH, University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health, 1603 W Taylor St (M/C 923), Chicago, IL 60612-4394 (e-mail: valles{at}uic.edu).

Objectives. We examined HIV prevalence and the socioeconomic correlates of HIV infection, sexual risk behaviors, and substance use among Latino gay and bisexual men and transgender persons in Chicago and San Francisco.

Methods. Data were collected from a sample of 643 individuals (Chicago: n=320; San Francisco: n=323) through respondent-driven sampling and computer-assisted self-administered interviews.

Results. HIV prevalence in San Francisco (0.325; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.260, 0.393) was higher than in Chicago (0.112; 95% CI=0.079, 0.163). In San Francisco, HIV prevalence was higher among US-born residents than among those born outside the country; in Chicago, the opposite was true. Heavy use of alcohol was prevalent, especially in Chicago (0.368; 95% CI=0.309, 0.432; San Francisco: 0.154; 95% CI=0.116, 0.192). Drug use and more education were positively correlated and greater age was negatively correlated with unprotected anal intercourse.

Conclusions. Heavy alcohol drinking and use of drugs remain a significant public health problem in this population. Drug use was more closely linked to HIV sexual risk behaviors than was heavy drinking.