MODE OF TRANSMISSION & LIFESTYLE VARIABLES

          Both % IDU and % MSM as modes of transmission have strong correlation  coefficients, however one is negative and one is positive. The -.774 correlation coefficient shows low AIDS rates in areas with high MSM transmission, meaning that uptown AIDS is not a "gay" disease. The second correlation coefficient of .945 means that we can be 97.5% confident that the high AIDS rates are a result of IDU. In Uptown Manhattan AIDS is spread largely through drug use, distinguishing itself as a separate issue then downtown.

            The strong correlation of .652 for the relationship between AIDS rates and the percent of households that are male-male suggests that most of the AIDS cases downtown occur in “gay-friendly” neighborhoods such as Chelsea and the West Village. The strong results from male-male households continue to support what we have already seen: those with AIDS downtown tend to be homosexual men, and the results often disregard race and wealth with low correlation coefficients.