NCJ Number
109675
Editor(s)
K Lauterbach
Date Published
1987
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This article summarizes studies conducted by Research Triangle Institute (RTI) researchers initiated in 1979 to study the effectiveness of drug abuse treatment and subsequently expanded to gather data on the prevalence of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and HIV infection among intravenous (IV) drug users.
Abstract
Between 1979 and 1981, RTI scientists were working on the Treatment Outcome Prospective Study (TOPS), sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). As the AIDS epidemic began to emerge, NIDA realized that TOPS had laid the groundwork for studying AIDS. With increased NIDA funding, RTI scientists collected additional data from TOPS participants on needle-sharing practices, as well as sexual and medical histories. They also performed blood tests. Their research on six special study groups showed that drug abuse treatment is an effective way to fight the spread of AIDS, since past and present IV users represent about one-quarter of all reported AIDS cases in the U.S. RTI also found different rates of HIV infection among different populations of IV drug users, although their risk behaviors were about the same. Table.