Objectives: The effect of incarceration on HIV risk-related behaviors among at-risk heterosexual men is understudied. The objective of our study was to examine the association between incarceration and HIV risk-related behaviors among a sample of predominantly non-Hispanic black and Hispanic heterosexual men residing in urban areas in the United States with a high prevalence of AIDS.
Methods: We analyzed data from the 2013 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance system on 5321 at-risk heterosexual men using log-linked Poisson regression models, adjusted for demographic characteristics and clustered on city.
Results: Of 5321 men, 1417 (26.6%) had recently been incarcerated (in the past 12 months), 2781 (52.3%) had ever been incarcerated but not in the past 12 months, and 1123 (21.1%) had never been incarcerated. Recent incarceration was associated with multiple casual female sexual partners (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] = 1.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-1.44), condomless sex with multiple female sexual partners (aPR = 1.32; 95% CI, 1.06-1.66), injection drug use (aPR = 3.75; 95% CI, 2.64-5.32), and having sexual partners who were more likely to have ever injected drugs (aPR = 1.84; 95% CI, 1.48-2.28), been incarcerated (aPR = 2.28; 95% CI, 2.01-2.59), or had a concurrent sexual partner (aPR = 1.08; 95% CI, 1.05-1.11), as compared with never-incarcerated men.
Conclusions: Incarceration history was associated with HIV risk-related behaviors among heterosexual men from urban areas in the United States. Correctional rehabilitation initiatives are needed to promote strategies that mitigate HIV risk-related behaviors and promote healthy reentry into communities among heterosexual men at high risk for HIV.
Keywords: HIV infections; epidemiology; poverty; prisoners; risk factors; sexual behavior.