Abstract
ObjectiveThe role of needle and syringe sharing behavior of injection drug users (IDUs) in spreading of blood-borne infections – specially HIV/AIDS – is well known. However, very little is known in this regard from Iran. The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence and associates of needle and syringe sharing among Iranian IDUs.MethodsIn a secondary analysis of a sample of drug dependents who were sampled from medical centers, prisons and streets of the capitals of 29 provinces in the Iran in 2007, 2091 male IDUs entered. Socio-demographic data, drug use data and high risk behaviors entered to a logistic regression to determine independent predictors of lifetime needle and syringe sharing.Results749(35.8%) reported lifetime experience of needle and syringe sharing. The likelihood of lifetime needle and syringe sharing was increased by female gender, being jobless, having illegal income, drug use by family members, pleasure/enjoyment as causes of first injection, first injection in roofless and roofed public places, usual injection at groin, usual injection at scrotum, lifetime experience of nonfatal overdose, and history of arrest in past year and was decreased by being alone at most injections.ConclusionHowever this data has been extracted from cross-sectional design and we can not conclude causation, some of the introduced variables with association with needle and syringe sharing may be used in HIV prevention programs which target reducing syringe sharing among IDUs.
Highlights
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immunodeficiency disorder syndrome (AIDS) has shown a rapid increasing trend [1]
Identifying factors associated with needle and syringe sharing among injecting drug users (IDUs) is important for HIV prevention [6]
Bivariate analysis showed that needle and syringe sharing was significantly higher in females, those who lived in rural area, those who were illiterate, those who were separate/ divorce/widow, homeless, those who lived alone, those jobless, those with illegal income, those with drug related income and those with drug use family members (Table 1)
Summary
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immunodeficiency disorder syndrome (AIDS) has shown a rapid increasing trend [1]. This problem is closely associated to injecting drug users (IDUs) in Iran, accounting for 67% of HIV positive cases and 85% of AIDS cases [2]. Lifetime and last time needle and syringe sharing was reported by 50% and 25% of IDUs, respectively [4]. In a drug treatment sample, more than two-thirds of the IDUs had shared syringes [5]. Identifying factors associated with needle and syringe sharing among IDUs is important for HIV prevention [6]. While very little is known about associated factors of needle and syringe sharing among Iranian IDUs [7,8,9], we here aimed to determine the prevalence and associates of needle and syringe sharing among a sample of IDUs in Iran
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