Drug Use and HIV Risk in Nicaragua

描述（由申请人提供）：此R03申请提出了一项探索性研究，解决与吸毒和艾滋病毒联系相关的因素，这是尼加拉瓜艾滋病毒研究的新方向，吸毒和艾滋病毒之间的关系尚未在规划或政治上得到承认。研究设计包括使用人种学和定性方法对该国吸毒者模式进行初步探索性研究。这项研究还将提供指导尼加拉瓜主要关注艾滋病毒的非政府组织的研究技能的机会。这项研究的目的是探索尼加拉瓜首都马那瓜吸毒与艾滋病毒的关系。它将确定和描述影响艾滋病毒风险的背景和具体药物使用行为。该项目将由来自美国和尼加拉瓜的一组研究人员进行，他们在针对西班牙裔人口的艾滋病毒药物使用研究方面具有丰富经验，并在尼加拉瓜制定政策方面具有丰富经验。该项目将分为3个阶段：(1)收集背景数据并在国家内进行药物使用、药物研究方法和药物使用与艾滋病毒之间关系方面的培训；(2)工具开发、预测试和数据收集（包括高风险行为和把关社区的焦点小组、关键线人访谈以及对非法药物（可卡因、快克、海洛因和药物）使用者的半结构化开放式访谈）；(3)数据分析和传播（包括以英文和西班牙文编写的摘要报告），其中将纳入对未来研究和预防工作的建议。尼加拉瓜缺乏关于艾滋病毒和药物滥用的行为和其他数据，而该国具有吸毒-艾滋病毒流行的许多先决条件，这表明急需进行拟议的研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This R03 application proposes an exploratory study addressing factors related to the drug use and HIV nexus, a direction new to HIV research in Nicaragua where the relationship between drug use and HIV is not yet programmatically or politically recognized. The study design includes the use of ethnography and a qualitative approach for this initial, exploratory study of drug user patterns in the country. The study will also provide the opportunity to mentor the research skills of the leading HIV-focused NGO in Nicaragua. The objective of the research is to explore the relationship of drug use to HIV in Nicaragua's capital city, Managua. It will identify and describe the context and specific drug use behaviors that influence HIV risk. The project will be conducted by a team of researchers from the United States and Nicaragua with extensive experience in HIV-drug use research with Hispanic populations and experience with policy development in Nicaragua. The project will consist of 3 phases: (1) Background data collection and training in country on drug use, drug research methodology, and the relationships between drug use and HIV; (2) Instrument development, pre-testing and data collection (including focus groups with high risk behavior and gatekeeper communities, key informant interviews, and semi-structured, open-ended interviews with users of illicit drugs [cocaine, crack, heroin and pharmaceuticals]); and (3) Data analysis and dissemination (including summary reports prepared in English and Spanish), which will incorporate recommendations for future research and prevention efforts. The dearth of behavioral and other data on HIV and substance abuse in Nicaragua, a country with many of the preconditions for a drug use-HIV epidemic, point to the critical need for the proposed research.