AIDS Linked to the Intravenous Experience (ALIVE) Cohort

The AIDS Linked to the Intravenous Experience (ALIVE) Study is a long-standing community based research effort that includes past and current injection drug users (IDUs). ALIVE has been ongoing since 1988 and is one of the longest-running community-based cohorts of IDUs in existence. The primary objectives when the study started were to characterize the incidence and natural history of HIV among injection drug users (IDUs). At each study visit, participants undergo a series of questionnaires that elicit information about substance use (including drugs used and route of administration) and a blood draw. A subsample of 1200 subjects was selected for genotyping for the NIDA Smokescreen effort who report heroin injection and have existing peripheral blood samples (isolated buffy coat). In addition to injected heroin, ALIVE subjects are assessed on lifetime and previous six months use of marijuana (76.3%), crack (55.5%), snorted cocaine (48.3%), injected cocaine (89.9%), injected speedball (87.0%), and smoking heroin (9.0%). The sample is 33.4% female, ~85% African-American and assessed through a mean maximum age of 49.9 years old. Importantly, subjects are not assessed to meet DSM criteria, but all subjects report having injected drugs. We provide demographic data (age at assessment, sex, self-reported race) and drug use data (lifetime "use" ever endorsed) for each drug class/route described above for each subject]]>
Adults who were current or past injection drug users in Baltimore.]]>