Determining risky sexual behaviors and reproductive health needs of opiate-using women in rural Appalachia: A secondary data analysis
Abortion, Contraception
Awarded 2017
Interdisciplinary Innovation (Phase 1) Grants
Gretchen Ely, PhD, MSW
State University of New York, University at Buffalo
$24,963

Phase 1 of this project is a secondary data analysis of a subset of questions from an NIH-funded study designed to examine drug use in rural Appalachian women recruited from jails. We propose examining a subset of previously unanalyzed questions in the categories of (a) risky sexual behaviors, (b) pregnancy and abortion history, (c) contraceptive use history, and (d) preventive health exam history, specifically in women with a history of opiate use. This will increase our understanding of the reproductive health needs of women who use or are addicted to opiates and living in Appalachia. This will, in turn, guide development of a survey to target pregnancy prevention in this population, which would occur in phase two, if phase one is funded. Questions from the existing sample of 400 women at baseline and subsequent responses at 3, 6 and 12 month follow-up waves will be analyzed to examine changes over time. This study will be informed from the perspectives of behavioral science, addictions, nursing, public health and social work. It will be the first study, to our knowledge, to specifically focus on aspects of reproductive health specific to opiate using Appalachian women along four points in time.