Syringe exchange not associated with social network formation: Results from Baltimore

Objective: To examine possible formation of new social contacts at the Baltimore Syringe Exchange Program (SEP). Design: Systematic sub-sample of new SEP participants recruited into evaluation cohort for biannual interviews. This analysis used 6-month interview data. Methods: Participants were interviewed for behavioral and network characteristics, and number of new social contacts formed at the SEP. Variables were cross-tabulated using χ² statistics. Results: Of 413 participants interviewed, 32 (8%) said they had made at least one social contact at the SEP. These 32 individuals were more likely to have engaged in commercial sex (16 versus 3%, P = 0.005) and, among active injectors, were more likely to have used syringes obtained from other drug users (22 versus 8%, P = 0.026). Conclusions: Findings argue against the formation of new social networks (and therefore new disease transmission networks) in the context of syringe exchange participation. (C) 2000 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.