David Vlahov
Biographic Data
| ID | 136058 |
|---|---|
| NAME | David Vlahov |
| GIVEN NAMES | David |
| FAMILY NAME | Vlahov |
| SIGNATURE | VLAHOV D |
| AFFILIATIONS | New York Academy of Medicine |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4007-4445 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 139 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 776 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 139 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1991 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 14 |
Indicators from The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change
Barriers and Facilitators to Vaccine Equity Amidst the Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout in the United States
State and local health departments were responsible for ensuring equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. This qualitative study aimed to identify the challenges, strategies, disappointments, and successes in achieving equity for hard-to-reach and at-risk populations. Using a purposive sampling strategy, 16 individuals affiliated with health departments across nine states, each holding leadership roles in vaccine distribution, were intervi…
The “15-Minute City” Concept in the Context of the Covid-19 Pandemic and Climate Change
Retracted Article
Temporal Trends of Early Covid-19 Infections in New York City Transit Workers and Residents
Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Medicare Beneficiaries with and Without Cancer History
Associations Between Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Socio-Spatial Factors in NYC Transit Workers 50 Years and Older
This analysis investigates how age, race/ethnicity, and geographic location contributed to vaccine hesitancy in a sample of 645 New York City (NYC) Transport Workers Union (TWU), Local 100 members surveyed in August 2020. Union members ages 50+ were 46% less likely to be vaccine hesitant than their younger counterparts (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.42, 0.97). Non-Whites (OR 3.95; 95% 2.44, 6.39) and those who did not report their race (OR 3.10; 95% CI 1.87,…
Strategies That Promote Equity in Covid-19 Vaccine Uptake for Latinx Communities
A quantitative assessment of the frequency and magnitude of heterogeneous treatment effects in studies of the health effects of social policies
Substantial heterogeneity in effects of social policies on health across subgroups may be common, but has not been systematically characterized. Using a sample of 55 contemporary studies on health effects of social policies, we recorded how often heterogeneous treatment effects (HTEs) were assessed, for what subgroups (e.g., male, female), and the subgroup-specific effect estimates expressed as Standardized Mean Differences (SMDs). For each study…
Risk factors for suicide among veterans living with and without HIV
Strategies that Promote Equity in Covid-19 Vaccine Uptake for Undocumented Immigrants
Strategies That Promote Equity in Covid-19 Vaccine Uptake for Black Communities
Black communities have had a high burden of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and death, yet rates of COVID-19 vaccine uptake among Blacks lag behind other demographic groups. This has been due in part to vaccine hesitancy and multi-level issues around access to COVID-19 vaccines. Effective strategies to promote vaccine uptake among Black communities are needed. To perform a rapid review covering December 2020–August 2021, our search strategy use…
Confidence and Hesitancy During the Early Roll-out of Covid-19 Vaccines Among Black, Hispanic, and Undocumented Immigrant Communities
Black and Hispanic Americans have been hardest hit with COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, yet during the first several months of vaccine roll-out they had the lowest level of vaccine uptake. Primarily, our research on vaccine hesitancy focused on skepticism around the vaccine itself and its roll-out. Our search strategy used PUBMED and Google with a prescribed set of definitions and search terms for two reasons: there were limite…
Preferences for Long-Acting and Alternative Modalities for PrEP among Military Men Who Have Sex with Men
The use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention within the U.S. military is low. Implementing preference-based alternative modalities of PrEP delivery, however, can be an innovative strategy to address the specific barriers to PrEP uptake among military MSM. We sought to identify population-based, segment-specific preferences for longer-acting and alternative PrEP delivery modalities to guide patient-centered strategies to optimize …
Harm Reduction, By Mail
Powering population health research
Evidence for Action (E4A), a signature program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, funds investigator-initiated research on the impacts of social programs and policies on population health and health inequities. Across thousands of letters of intent and full proposals E4A has received since 2015, one of the most common methodological challenges faced by applicants is selecting realistic effect sizes to inform calculations of power, sample size…
Eviction, Health Inequity, and the Spread of Covid-19
Alternative causal inference methods in population health research
Population health researchers from different fields often address similar substantive questions but rely on different study designs, reflecting their home disciplines. This is especially true in studies involving causal inference, for which semantic and substantive differences inhibit interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration. In this paper, we group nonrandomized study designs into two categories: those that use confounder-control (such as re…
A Community Responds to the Covid-19 Pandemic
Effective responses to a global pandemic require local action. In the face of a pandemic or similar emergencies, communities of people who use drugs face risks that result from their ongoing drug use, reduced ability to secure treatment for drug use and correlated maladies, lack of access to preventive hygiene, and the realities of homelessness, street-level policing, and criminal justice involvement. Herein, we document the efforts of a coalitio…
Slum Health
The informal settlements of the Global South are the least prepared for the pandemic of COVID-19 since basic needs such as water, toilets, sewers, drainage, waste collection, and secure and adequate housing are already in short supply or non-existent. Further, space constraints, violence, and overcrowding in slums make physical distancing and self-quarantine impractical, and the rapid spread of an infection highly likely. Residents of informal se…
Building the evidence on Making Health a Shared Value
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)'s Culture of Health Action Framework guides a movement to improve health and advance health equity across the nation. Action Area One of the Framework, Making Health a Shared Value, highlights the role of individual and community factors in achieving a societal commitment to health and health equity, centered around three drivers: Mindset and Expectations, Sense of Community, and Civic Engagement. To stim…
Impacts of Medical Marijuana Laws on Young Americans Across the Developmental Spectrum
Systematic Surveys in Informal Settlements
Expanding a Comprehensive Strategy for Overdose Prevention in the USA
Social Network Structures in African American Churches
Cities and population health
Challenges and Facilitating Factors in Sustaining Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships
Slum Health
The informal settlements of the Global South are the least prepared for the pandemic of COVID-19 since basic needs such as water, toilets, sewers, drainage, waste collection, and secure and adequate housing are already in short supply or non-existent. Further, space constraints, violence, and overcrowding in slums make physical distancing and self-quarantine impractical, and the rapid spread of an infection highly likely. Residents of informal se…
Urban as a Determinant of Health
Cities are the predominant mode of living, and the growth in cities is related to the expansion of areas that have concentrated disadvantage. The foreseeable trend is for rising inequities across a wide range of social and health dimensions. Although qualitatively different, this trend exists in both the developed and developing worlds. Improving the health of people in slums will require new analytic frameworks. The social-determinants approach …
Neighborhood Characteristics and Disability in Older Adults
The urban environment may have a substantial impact on whether an older adult with a given level of functional impairment is able to age actively and remain independent
Eviction, Health Inequity, and the Spread of Covid-19
Policing, Drugs, and the Homicide Decline in New York City in the 1990s
This research reassesses the role of policing and drugs in the sharp homicide decline in New York City in the 1990s. Drawing on theoretical arguments about “broken windows” policing and lethal violence associated with the diffusion of crack cocaine, we estimate the effects of measures of misdemeanor arrests and cocaine prevalence on homicide rates with pooled, cross‐sectional time‐series data for 74 New York City precincts over the 1990–1999 peri…
Urban built environment and depression
Study objective: To assess the relations between characteristics of the neighbourhood internal and external built environment and past six month and lifetime depression. Design and setting: Depression and sociodemographic information were assessed in a cross sectional survey of residents of New York City (NYC). All respondents were geocoded to neighbourhood of residence. Data on the quality of the built environment in 59 NYC neighbourhoods were c…
Neighborhoods and HIV
Neighborhood factors have been linked to HIV risk behaviors, HIV counseling and testing, and HIV medical care. However, the social-psychological mechanisms that connect neighborhood factors to HIV-related behaviors have not been fully determined. In this article we review the research on neighborhood factors and HIV-related behaviors, approaches to measuring neighborhoods, and mechanisms that may help to explain how the physical and social enviro…
Viral infections in short-term injection drug users
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence and correlates of four blood-borne viral infections among illicit drug injectors with up to 6 years of injecting experience. METHODS: We analyzed data from 716 volunteers recruited in 1988 and 1989. Test results for hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV), and human T-lymphotropic virus types I and II (HTLV) were examined acro…
Neighborhood-Level Correlates of Consistent Condom Use among Men Who have Sex with Men
Addressing the Social and Environmental Determinants of Urban Health Equity
Sustained Increased Consumption of Cigarettes, Alcohol, and Marijuana Among Manhattan Residents After September 11, 2001
We compared reports of increased substance use in Manhattan 1 and 6 months after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Data from 2 random-digit-dial surveys conducted 1 and 6 months after September 11 showed that 30.8% and 27.3% of respondents, respectively, reported increased use of cigarettes, alcohol, or marijuana. These sustained increases in substance use following the September 11 terrorist attacks suggest potential long-term health co…
The urban built environment and overdose mortality in New York City neighborhoods
Prevalence and Incidence of HIV, Hepatitis B Virus, and Hepatitis C Virus Infections Among Males in Rhode Island Prisons
Objectives. We evaluated prevalence and intraprison incidence of HIV, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus infections among male prison inmates. Methods. We observed intake prevalence for 4269 sentenced inmates at the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institute between 1998 and 2000 and incidence among 446 continuously incarcerated inmates (incarcerated for 12 months or more). Results. HIV, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus prevalences w…
Risk factors for shooting gallery use and cessation among intravenous drug users
BACKGROUND. Shooting galleries, locations where intravenous drug users (IVDUs) can rent or borrow needles and syringes, are a high-risk environment for HIV-1 transmission. This study investigates risk factors for lifetime attendance at shooting galleries and differentiates characteristics of those who continue to frequent shooting galleries and those who have stopped. METHODS. We interviewed 2615 active IVDUs in Baltimore in 1988 and 1989 and det…
The trading of sex for drugs or money and HIV seropositivity among female intravenous drug users
OBJECTIVES. Data from 538 women in a cohort study recruited in 1988-1989 were analyzed to determined whether trading sex for drugs or money was independently associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seroprevalence in a population of female intravenous drug users. METHODS. The women were grouped according to the number of partners with whom they reported trading sex for drugs or money during the previous 10 years: none, 1 through 49 (low…
What explains the association between neighborhood-level income inequality and the risk of fatal overdose in New York City
The prevalence of homelessness among injection drug users with and without HIV infection
Utilization of health services in a cohort of intravenous drug users with known HIV-1 serostatus
BACKGROUND. Intravenous drug users (IVDUs) with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and AIDS often have no health insurance or rely on public programs to finance their health care. We examined the independent contributions of HIV serostatus, clinical symptoms, CD4 cell counts, and health insurance to utilization of health services among 1881 intravenous drug users in Baltimore, Maryland. METHODS. Participants in an ongoing natural histor…
Effects of Race, Neighborhood, and Social Network on Age at Initiation of Injection Drug Use
Objectives. We investigated individual- and neighborhood-level factors associated with adolescent initiation of injection drug use. Methods. Injection drug users (IDUs) who had been injecting 2 to 5 years underwent HIV testing and completed a sociobehavioral risk survey. Modeling techniques accounting for intraneighborhood correlations were used in data analyses. Results. Adolescent-initiating IDUs were less likely than adult-initiating IDUs to r…
Neighborhood Characteristics and Change in Depressive Symptoms Among Older Residents of New York City
Objectives. We investigated the relationship between the depressive symptoms of older adults over time and the characteristics of the neighborhoods in which they live. Methods. We surveyed a random sample of 1325 New York City residents aged 50 years or older in 2005 and conducted 808 follow-up interviews in 2007. We assessed the compositional characteristics of the respondents' neighborhoods at a census-tract level and determined the relationshi…
Social Determinants of the Health of Urban Populations
A full understanding of the role of the urban environment in shaping the health of populations requires consideration of different features of the urban environment that may influence population health. The social environment is key to understanding the way in which cities affect the health of populations. Social determinants of health (SDH) are important, generally, yet can have different effects in different settings from urban to rural, betwee…
The long‐term outcome of a personal network‐oriented HIV prevention intervention for injection drug users
Social influence processes have been found to affect numerous drug and health‐related behaviors. We postulated that by using a network‐oriented intervention it may be possible to capitalize on social influence processes to reduce human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behaviors. The present study used an experimental study design for delivering a psychoeducational acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) preventive intervention to injection dru…
Perspectives on urban conditions and population health
The majority of the world's population will live in cities in the next few years and the pace of urbanization worldwide will continue to accelerate over the coming decades. While the number of megacities is projected to increase, the largest population growth is expected to be in cities of less than one million people. Such a dramatic demographic shift can be expected to have an impact on population health. Although there has been historic intere…
Risk factors for shooting gallery use and cessation among intravenous drug users
BACKGROUND. Shooting galleries, locations where intravenous drug users (IVDUs) can rent or borrow needles and syringes, are a high-risk environment for HIV-1 transmission. This study investigates risk factors for lifetime attendance at shooting galleries and differentiates characteristics of those who continue to frequent shooting galleries and those who have stopped. METHODS. We interviewed 2615 active IVDUs in Baltimore in 1988 and 1989 and det…
Utilization of health services in a cohort of intravenous drug users with known HIV-1 serostatus
BACKGROUND. Intravenous drug users (IVDUs) with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and AIDS often have no health insurance or rely on public programs to finance their health care. We examined the independent contributions of HIV serostatus, clinical symptoms, CD4 cell counts, and health insurance to utilization of health services among 1881 intravenous drug users in Baltimore, Maryland. METHODS. Participants in an ongoing natural histor…
Aids knowledge and risk perceptions among Pennsylvania prisoners
My place, your place, and no place
Information is sparse on the social context of illicit drug injection behaviors and their relationship to HIV infection. This study examined relationships between injection settings, injecting with others, and HIV risk behaviors of sharing needles and not cleaning contaminated needles in a sample of 630 inner‐city injecting drug users in Baltimore, MD. Through open‐ended interviews, five primary settings of injection behavior were identified. The…
The trading of sex for drugs or money and HIV seropositivity among female intravenous drug users
OBJECTIVES. Data from 538 women in a cohort study recruited in 1988-1989 were analyzed to determined whether trading sex for drugs or money was independently associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seroprevalence in a population of female intravenous drug users. METHODS. The women were grouped according to the number of partners with whom they reported trading sex for drugs or money during the previous 10 years: none, 1 through 49 (low…
Correlates of needle sharing among injection drug users
OBJECTIVES. The sharing of contaminated injection equipment is the primary mode of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission for injection drug users. This study examined demographic factors, life events, and drug use practices that are potential risk factors for sharing injection equipment. METHODS. Between February 1988 and March 1989, 2921 active injection drug users were interviewed and questioned about their backgrounds, life-styles, a…
A pilot syringe exchange program in Washington, DC
The Washington, DC City Council authorized a pilot syringe exchange program to operate for only 60 days at a single drug abuse treatment facility in the District. Only adults on the waiting list for treatment were eligible (n = 467). Of the 33 who enrolled, median duration of drug injection was 18 years. Twenty-seven participants denied needle sharing. Of 209 needles distributed, 69% were returned. Low enrollment might have been due to restrictiv…
A community-based Needle Clean-Up Project
A community-based Needle Clean-Up Project. T McMillian, E Dorsey, P Beilenson, and D VlahovCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.84.11.1854 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Using social network analysis to study patterns of drug use among urban drug users at high risk for HIV/Aids
Few studies have examined the current social relationships of injecting drug users. This paper examines the structural and relationship characteristics of the social networks of injecting drug users, and the relation of social network characteristics to the HIV infection risk behavior of frequency of injecting heroin and cocaine. The study sample was comprised of 293 inner city injecting drug users in Baltimore, Maryland. Most participants (89%) …
Personal network characteristics as antecedents to needle-sharing and shooting gallery attendance
Sharing of contaminated needles is one of the primary modes of HIV transmission in the US. This study sought to examine social contextual factors antecedent to needle-sharing in a sample of inner-city drug users in Baltimore, Maryland. Drug users' social context was assessed through an analysis of individual's personal networks. The sample, 330 individuals participating in an HIV-prevention study, were interviewed twice, an average of 5.2 months …
People and Places
Sharing of contaminated needles constitutes one of the primary modes of HIV transmission in the U.S. This study examined social and environmental factors as possible correlates of needle sharing in a sample of inner-city drug users in Baltimore, Maryland. Drug users' social context was assessed through an analysis of personal networks, and the environmental context of drug use was assessed through a delineation of injection settings. The 330 resp…
The long‐term outcome of a personal network‐oriented HIV prevention intervention for injection drug users
Social influence processes have been found to affect numerous drug and health‐related behaviors. We postulated that by using a network‐oriented intervention it may be possible to capitalize on social influence processes to reduce human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behaviors. The present study used an experimental study design for delivering a psychoeducational acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) preventive intervention to injection dru…
Viral infections in short-term injection drug users
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence and correlates of four blood-borne viral infections among illicit drug injectors with up to 6 years of injecting experience. METHODS: We analyzed data from 716 volunteers recruited in 1988 and 1989. Test results for hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV), and human T-lymphotropic virus types I and II (HTLV) were examined acro…
Prevalence and Incidence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection Among Young Adult Injection Drug Users
Through community-based outreach, young adult injection drug users (IDUs) were enrolled in a prospective study of the prevalence, incidence, and risk factors for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Demographics and information on sexual and injecting practices were collected during semiannual interviews, and HCV infection was evaluated using a second-generation antibody assay. Of the 229 participants, 86 (37.6%) were HCV-seropositive at baseline. …
Violence Among Women with or at Risk for HIV Infection
Evaluating supervised haart in late-stage HIV among drug users
Needle-exchange attendance and health care utilization promote entry into detoxification
Access to antiretroviral treatment among French HIV infected injection drug users
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine the influence of continued drug use and its perception by prescribing physicians on access to antiretroviral treatment among French HIV infected injection drug users (IDUs). DESIGN: Cross sectional including enrollment data (October 1995-1996) of the cohort study MANIF 2000. Access to treatment is compared in three groups: former IDUs (n = 68) and active IDUs whether or not this behaviour remains undetected (n = 38) …
Syringe vending machines for injection drug users
OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the usefulness of vending machines in providing injection drug users with access to sterile syringes in Marseille, France. METHODS: Self-administered questionnaires were offered to 485 injection drug users obtaining syringes from 32 pharmacies, 4 needle exchange programs, and 3 vending machines. RESULTS: Of the 343 respondents (response rate = 70.7%), 21.3% used the vending machines as their primary source of syri…
Decline in Self-Reported High-Risk Injection-Related Behaviors Among HIV-Seropositive Participants in the Baltimore Needle Exchange Program
Palliative care for HIV disease in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy
Consideration of a North American heroin-assisted clinical trial for the treatment of opiate-dependent individuals
Untreated opiate addiction remains a major public health problem in North America (US and Canada). Increased morbidity and mortality as well as criminal behavior related to untreated opiate dependence constitute significant social and economic burdens. While the principal treatment modality to opiate addiction in North America has been methadone treatment since the 1960s, its reach and effectiveness has been limited; at any given time, only about…
New York City pharmacists' attitudes toward sale of needles/syringes to injection drug users before implementation of law expanding syringe access
Gender differences in the initiation of injection drug use among young adults
The prevalence of homelessness among injection drug users with and without HIV infection
Medicine (121 works) · Environmental health (67 works) · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk (59 works) · Psychiatry (52 works) · Demography (47 works) · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions (46 works) · Psychology (45 works) · Internal Medicine (37 works) · Public health (37 works) · Family medicine (36 works)