Do risk factors increase measurement of hepatitis B, C signs and HIV-AIDS among middle-aged and older IDUs in southwest Iran?

Drugs and Alcohol Today, Ahead of Print. Purpose Injecting drug use addiction is a main factor in hepatitis B, C infection and HIV –AIDS infection. The purpose of this paper is to measure seroprevalence of hepatitis B, C virus and HIV–AIDS amongst injecting drug users (IDUs) and its influencing factors. Design/methodology/approach The cross-sectional method was used in mid-2017 in Ahwaz city, southwest Iran. In total, 133 IDUs, aged 29–71 years (mean age=48.21 ± 10.4), were chosen from Aria addiction treatment centre. The data were collected on demographic and behavioural characteristics. In addition, serum samples were screened for those diseases. Findings In a total of 131 IDUs, 2 (1.5 per cent) were HIV+, 16 (11.7 per cent) HCV+ and 8 (6.1 per cent) HBV+. There was a significant correlation between diseases and IDU. Results of multiple regression stated that IDU was a more predicting variable as β=0.76 and the model was able to predict 74.1 per cent of the variance, F (3, 35)=12.42, ρ<0.001, R2=0.741, OR=3.01, 95% CI [1.44, 3.83]. The synchronised pairwise effect of age, imprisonment and IDU with GLM analysis was significant, F (2, 114)=20.433, ρ<0.000, [math], [math], and [math], λWilks’=0.056. The infection rate among IDUs was significant and the most important risk factor for these infections has been intravenous drug use, together with age of misusing and imprisonment. Research limitations/implications The non-cooperation of two samples, lack of ...
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - Category: Addiction Source Type: research