Abstract
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2007 among 504 drug users who were recruited mainly from detoxification centers in southwest China. About one-third (34.3%) of participants reported recent risky drug use behavior, which was defined as injecting drugs in the past 3 months, and more than one-fifth (21.6%) reported recent risky sexual behavior, or had multiple sexual partners in the past 30 days. Male sex (odds ratio [OR], 1.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-3.2) and more episodes of detoxification (OR, 3.7; 95% CI, 2.3-6.0) were associated with higher odds of risky drug use behavior, while unmarried status (OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.0-2.9), higher personal annual income (OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.1-2.8) and history of sexually transmitted infections (OR, 3.7; 95% CI, 2.1-6.6) were associated with higher odds of having risky sexual behavior. Subgroup analyses showed 15% participants who used drugs in the past 3 months also shared needles, and 77% participants who had multiple sexual partners in the past 30 days did not use condoms during sex with non-primary sexual partners. The study findings are useful for developing HIV risk reduction intervention programs among drug users.
Highlights
Drug abuse has become increasingly common in China over the last 2 to 3 decades, in the southwest areas that border the well-known heroin production region, the “Golden Triangle” [1]
Our study shows that recent risky drug use and sexual behaviors are common among drug users: 34.3% injected drugs in the past 3 months and 21.6% had multiple sexual partners in the last 30 days
These behaviors might have occurred before drug users entered detoxification or other treatment programs where the participants were recruited
Summary
Drug abuse has become increasingly common in China over the last 2 to 3 decades, in the southwest areas that border the well-known heroin production region, the “Golden Triangle” [1]. Injection drug use (IDU) was the initial driving force for HIV spread in China [1,3] and had contributed to over half of the total infections as of 2005 [4,5]. While there is plenty of literature on HIV prevalence among drug-using populations in China and around the world [6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14], few studies have investigated drug users’ recent risky drug use and sexual behaviors [8,15,16,17], which are indicators for new HIV infection. Understanding the predictors for recent risk behaviors will help inform the development and refinement of HIV intervention programs
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