Transition to Injecting Drug Use in Iran: A Systematic Review of Qualitative & Quantitative Evidence

Injection drug use, a behavior associated with significant adverse health effects, has been increasing over the past decade in Iran. This study aims to systematically review the epidemiological and qualitative evidence on factors that facilitate or protect the transition to injection drug use in Iran.

A total of 38 documents from 31 studies met eligibility criteria, from which more than 50% were implemented from 2006 to 2008. The weighted mean age of first injection was 25.8. Between 1998 and 2011, the age of first injection was relatively stable. Overall, drug users had used drugs for 6-7 years before they started injection use. Heroin was the first drug of injection in the majority of the cases. We identified factors influencing the initiation of or transition to injection use at various levels, including: 

1. individual (pleasure-seeking behavior, curiosity and development of drug dependency commonly reported),
2. social and environmental (role of peer drug users in the first injection use, the economic efficiency associated with injections and the wide availability of injectable form of drugs in the market).

Harm reduction policies in Iran have almost exclusively focused on drug injectors in Iran. However, given the extent of the non-injection drug use epidemic, evidence from this study can provide insight on points of interventions for the prevention of the transition to injection use.

Via:  http://ht.ly/S9JAA 

By: Rahimi-Movaghar A1, Amin-Esmaeili M2, Shadloo B1, Noroozi A3, Malekinejad M4.

• 1Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies (INCAS), Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, No. 486, South Karegar Ave., Postal Code: 1336616357, Tehran, Iran.
• 2Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS (IRCHA), Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Keshavarz Blvd., Postal code: 14197-33141, Tehran, Iran.
• 3Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies (INCAS), Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, No. 486, South Karegar Ave., Postal Code: 1336616357, Tehran, Iran; School of Advanced Technologies of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
• 4Institute for Health Policy Studies and Global Health Sciences, University of California San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Suite 265, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA.