The study’s aim was to estimate the self-reported prevalence
of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), and to
describe their associated risk factors in a population of users of illicit
drugs recruited in Catalonia- Spain, during 2012.
Cross-sectional study. People with illicit drugs use were
selected in three different types of healthcare centres. The questionnaire was
a piloted, structured ad hoc instrument. An analysis was made to identify
factors associated to self-reported HCV, HIV and co-infection. Correlates of
reported infections were determined using univariate and multivariate Poisson
regression (with robust variance).
Among 512 participants, 39.65 % self-reported positive
serostatus for HCV and 14.84 % for HIV, co-infection was reported by
13.48 %. Among the 224 injecting drug users (IDUs), 187 (83.48 %), 68
(30.36 %) and 66 (29.46 %) reported being positive for HCV, HIV and
co-infection, respectively. A higher proportion of HIV-infected cases was
observed among women, (18.33 % vs. 13.78 % in men). Prevalence of
HCV, HIV and co-infection were higher among participants with early onset of
drug consumption, long periods of drug injection or who were unemployed. A
positive serostatus was self-reported by 21(7.34 %) participants who did
not report any injection; among them 16 and eight, reported being positive for
HCV and HIV, respectively; three reported co-infection. Only two people
declared exchanging sex for money. For those that reported a negative test, the
median time since the last HIV test was 11.41 months (inter-quartile range
(IQR) 4–12) and for the HCV test was 4.5 months (IQR 2–7).
Among drug users in Catalonia, HIV, HCV and co-infection
prevalence are still a big issue especially among IDUs. Women and drug users
who have never injected drugs are groups with a significant risk of infection;
this might be related to their high-risk behaviours and to being unaware of
their serological status.
Full article at: http://goo.gl/z6uwMi
By:
1Department of Paediatrics, Gynaecology and
Preventive Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
2Drug Use Epidemiology Research Group,
IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, Dr Aiguader 88, Barcelona,
08003, Spain
3Teaching Unit of Preventive Medicine and
Public Health, PSMAR-UPF-ASPB, Barcelona, Spain
4Public Health Agency of Barcelona,
Barcelona, Spain
5Institute of Biomedical Research Sant Pau
(IIB Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain
6Department of Health Government of
Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain
7CIBER in Epidemiology and Public Health
(CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv_insight
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