Global prevalence of injecting drug use and sociodemographic characteristics and prevalence of HIV, HBV, and HCV in people who inject drugs: a multistage systematic review

Publication date: December 2017 Source:The Lancet Global Health, Volume 5, Issue 12 Author(s): Louisa Degenhardt, Amy Peacock, Samantha Colledge, Janni Leung, Jason Grebely, Peter Vickerman, Jack Stone, Evan B Cunningham, Adam Trickey, Kostyantyn Dumchev, Michael Lynskey, Paul Griffiths, Richard P Mattick, Matthew Hickman, Sarah Larney Background Sharing of equipment used for injecting drug use (IDU) is a substantial cause of disease burden and a contributor to blood-borne virus transmission. We did a global multistage systematic review to identify the prevalence of IDU among people aged 15–64 years; sociodemographic characteristics of and risk factors for people who inject drugs (PWID); and the prevalence of HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV), and hepatitis B virus (HBV) among PWID. Methods Consistent with the GATHER and PRISMA guidelines and without language restrictions, we systematically searched peer-reviewed databases (MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO; articles published since 2008, latest searches in June, 2017), searched the grey literature (websites and databases, searches between April and August, 2016), and disseminated data requests to international experts and agencies (requests sent in October, 2016). We searched for data on IDU prevalence, characteristics of PWID, including gender, age, and sociodemographic and risk characteristics, and the prevalence of HIV, HCV, and HBV among PWID. Eligible data on prevalence of IDU, HIV antibody, HBsAg, and HCV an...
Source: The Lancet Global Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research