Research Topics
| Rafaela Rivera RoblesSummaryAffiliation: Universidad Central del Caribe Publications
Research Grants
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Detail Information
Publications
Determinants of health care use among Puerto Rican drug users in Puerto Rico and New York CityRafaela R Robles
Center for Addiction Studies, Universidad Central del Caribe School of Medicine, Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Clin Infect Dis 37:S392-403. 2003..Although Puerto Rican drug users in Puerto Rico are not an ethnic minority, they reported significant disparities in health services use compared with Puerto Rican drug users in New York...- Drug treatment disparities among Hispanic drug-using women in Puerto Rico and New York CityRafaela Rivera Robles
Center for Addiction Studies, Universidad Central del Caribe, School of Medicine, P O Box 60327, Bayamon, PR 00960 6032, USA
Health Policy 75:159-69. 2006..Findings from these studies can help in developing appropriate public health policy and science-based drug treatment programs to eliminate disparities such as the ones detected in this study... - Mortality among Hispanic drug users in Puerto RicoRafaela R Robles
Centro de Estudios en Adicción, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Central del Caribe, PO Box 60327, Bayamon, PR 00960 6032
P R Health Sci J 22:369-76. 2003..Puerto Rico needs to continue developing programs to prevent HIV/AIDS among drug users. Special attention should be given to young women, who appear to be in greatest need of programs to prevent early mortality... - Effects of combined counseling and case management to reduce HIV risk behaviors among Hispanic drug injectors in Puerto Rico: a randomized controlled studyRafaela R Robles
Center for Addiction Studies, School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, Bayamon, Puerto Rico 00960 6032
J Subst Abuse Treat 27:145-52. 2004..Confirming the outcomes of this study in other Hispanic sites and populations could be a critical step towards reducing factors that contribute to the self-sustaining HIV/AIDS epidemic in Puerto Rico and communities in the U.S. mainland... - Accessing hard-to-reach populations: the illicit drug market as a workplace of the outreach worker in Puerto RicoRafaela R Robles
Center for Addiction Studies, Universidad Central del Caribe, School of Medicine, Bayamon, Puerto Rico 00960 6032
P R Health Sci J 23:217-22. 2004..The authors recommend utilizing outreach workers as part of prevention and treatment teams in organizations providing services to drug users, as well as other hard-to-reach populations such as street sex workers and the homeless... - Correlates of early sexual activity among Hispanic children in middle adolescenceRafaela R Robles
Center for Addiction Studies, School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, PO Box 60 327, Bayamon, Puerto Rico 00960 6032
P R Health Sci J 26:119-26. 2007..We analyzed early sexual activity among Hispanic 14 to 15-year-old adolescents residing in a poor neighborhood in Puerto Rico... 
A comparative study of mortality among Puerto Rican injection drug users in East Harlem, New York, and Bayamon, Puerto RicoHector Manuel Colon
Center for Addiction Studies, School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, Box 60327, Bayamon, 00960 6032, Puerto Rico
J Urban Health 83:1114-26. 2006..Furthermore, these results point to an urgent need to reduce excess mortality among IDUs in Puerto Rico...- A longitudinal study of syringe acquisition by Puerto Rican injection drug users in New York and Puerto Rico: implications for syringe exchange and distribution programsH Ann Finlinson
Center for Addiction Studies, School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Subst Use Misuse 41:1313-36. 2006..The only source of free syringes, the SEP, permitted more syringes to be exchanged but the increase was not statistically significant. Implications for syringe exchange and distribution programs are discussed... 
Neighborhood disorganization, substance use, and violence among adolescents in Puerto RicoJuan C Reyes
Universidad Central del Caribe, Puerto Rico
J Interpers Violence 23:1499-512. 2008..Furthermore, socially disorganized neighborhoods might be less likely to organize on their own behalf because the occurrence of negative experience limits the amount of social support and resources that are available in the neighborhood...- An exploratory qualitative study of polydrug use histories among recently initiated injection drug users in San Juan, Puerto RicoH Ann Finlinson
Center for Addiction Studies, School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Subst Use Misuse 41:915-35. 2006..Neither availability nor access appeared to affect the order in which participants used modulating drugs... - Severe anxiety symptomatology and HIV risk behavior among Hispanic injection drug users in Puerto RicoJuan C Reyes
Center for Addiction Studies, Universidad Central del Caribe, School of Medicine, P O Box 60327, Bayamon, Puerto Rico, 00960 6032, Argentina
AIDS Behav 11:145-50. 2007..The findings from this study alert HIV prevention and treatment programs to the need to address anxiety disorders within their programs... - Enhancing the research environment in Puerto Rico with the facilitator-mentoring modelRafaela R Robles
Institute of Research, Education and Services in Addiction, Universidad Central del Caribe, School of Medicine, P O Box 60 327, Bayamon, Puerto Rico
P R Health Sci J 28:60-5. 2009..Comments of some participants of the Facilitator-Mentoring Model are also documented... - Gender differences in drug use and sexual risk behaviors among non-injecting heroin users in Puerto RicoIrmaly Sosa-Zapata
Center for Addiction Studies, Universidad Central del Caribe School of Medicine, Bayamon, Puerto Rico
P R Health Sci J 26:205-11. 2007..However, very few studies have examined the drug-using practices and other problem behaviors of NIHUs. In this study, we compared male and female NIHUs from Puerto Rico across a number of domains... - Impaired cytokine production and suppressed lymphocyte proliferation activity in HCV-infected cocaine and heroin ("speedball") usersEddy Rios-Olivares
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Universidad Central del Caribe, School of Medicine, Laurel Ave Urb Santa Juanita, Bayamón 00960 6032, PR, USA
Drug Alcohol Depend 85:236-43. 2006..These immunologic abnormalities, coupled with the range of response between the two TH-types in HCV-infected "speedball" users, suggest impairment in the regulatory mechanism of the TH1-TH2 system... - Sexual identity formation and AIDS prevention: an exploratory study of non-gay-identified Puerto Rican MSM from working class neighborhoodsH Ann Finlinson
Center for Addiction Studies, School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, P O Box 60 327, Bayamon, Puerto Rico 00960 6032
AIDS Behav 10:531-9. 2006..HIV/AIDS prevention based on awareness of developmental histories holds promise for intervening before NGI youth engage in male prostitution or injection drug use... - The validity of drug use self-reports among hard core drug users in a household survey in Puerto Rico: comparison of survey responses of cocaine and heroin use with hair testsHECTOR M COLON
Center for Addiction Studies, School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, PO Box 60327, Bayamón 00960 6032, Puerto Rico
Drug Alcohol Depend 67:269-79. 2002..The results suggest that while drug reports of hard core drug users interviewed in household surveys might be more valid than those of the general population, there still remains considerable under-reporting... - Elicitation of salient beliefs related to drug preparation practices among injection drug users in Puerto RicoHECTOR M COLON
Center for Addiction Studies, School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, Bayamón Puerto Rico
AIDS Behav 9:363-75. 2005.... - Homelessness and HIV risk behaviors among drug injectors in Puerto RicoJuan C Reyes
Center for Addiction Studies, School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, 60327, Bayamon, PR 00960 6032, USA
J Urban Health 82:446-55. 2005..Findings from this study present an added challenge to drug treatment and HIV prevention and treatment programs, to provide services that can address the additional needs of drug users suffering the stressors of homelessness... - Factors associated with drug treatment dropout among injection drug users in Puerto RicoC Amalia Marrero
Center for Addiction Studies, Caribbean Basin and Hispanic Addiction Technology Transfer Center, School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, P O Box 60327, Bayamón 00960 6032, Puerto Rico
Addict Behav 30:397-402. 2005..Improving adherence to drug treatment and reducing dropout rates are complex processes that need to be addressed at the individual behavioral and social support levels, as well as the program process and resource levels... - HIV risk behaviors and alcohol intoxication among injection drug users in Puerto RicoTomas D Matos
Center for Addiction Studies, Universidad Central del Caribe, School of Medicine, P O Box 60327, Bayamon, PR 00960 6032, USA
Drug Alcohol Depend 76:229-34. 2004..HIV prevention programs, to be effective, must address alcohol intoxication and its relation to injection and sexual risk behaviors as a central issue in HIV prevention among drug injectors... - Predictors of school dropout among adolescents in Puerto RicoJose M Calderon
Institute of Research, Education and Services in Addiction, Universidad Central del Caribe, School of Medicine, P O Box 60 327, Bayamon, Puerto Rico 00960 6032
P R Health Sci J 28:307-12. 2009..This research aims to understand the circumstances associated with school dropout in a cohort of Puerto Rican adolescents... - Puerto Rican drug users experiences of physical and sexual abuse: comparisons based on sexual identitiesH Ann Finlinson
Center for Addiction Studies, School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, Bayamon, Puerto Rico, 00960 6032
J Sex Res 40:277-85. 2003.... - Injecting shared drugs: an observational study of the process of drug acquisition, preparation, and injection by Puerto Rican drug usersH Ann Finlinson
Researcher, Center for Addiction Studies, School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, Bayamon, Puerto Rico
J Psychoactive Drugs 37:37-49. 2005....
Research Grants
- CBHATTC 2nd National Conference on the Hispanic FamilyRafaela Robles; Fiscal Year: 2004..The conference approach is guided by elements of Hispanic culture, and the theories of Diffusion of Innovation and Successful Technology Implementation. ..
- Puerto Rico Drug Abuse Research Development Program (PRDARDP II)Rafaela Robles; Fiscal Year: 2007....