Sexual and drug use behaviors among female crack users: a multi-site sample

The purpose of this paper was to compare female crack users who report exchanging sex for drugs and/or money with female crack users who did not report exchanging sex for drugs and/or money. A multi-site sample of (n = 4667) female crack users who participated in the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) AIDS Cooperative Agreement Project from 20 sites were interviewed. Statistical analysis compared two groups on selected variables of interest: women crack users who reported exchanging sex for drugs and/or money (n = 2658) and women crack users who did not report exchanging sex (n = 2009). Results indicated that both groups of women had frequent unprotected sex. However, women who exchanged sex had more sexual partners, had sex more often, used drugs before and during sex more often, and had a higher rate of STDs than women who did not exchange sex. In addition, African-American women, homeless women, and women who reported past substance abuse treatment were about twice as likely to exchange sex. Regional differences were also examined.