Predictors of Drug Injection in High-Risk Populations of Prisoners with a History of Tattooing: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Transmitting blood-borne diseases is alarming in places with a high prevalence of people who inject drugs. This study aims to determine the prevalence of drug injection and its related predictors among prisoners with a history of tattooing.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. By using a census sampling, 5940 prisoners with a history of tattooing of 11988 prisoners who had been participated for hepatitis B and C bio-behavioral surveillance surveys (BSS) in prisons of Iran during 2015-2016 from 55 prisons in 19 provinces were assessed. The data for the BSS was collected using face-to-face checklist-based interviews. Weighted prevalence and the association between variables and history of drug injection were determined using Chi-square test and adjusted odds ratio was estimated through multivariate logistic regression test using survey package.Results: The mean age of participants was 34.2 8.5 years. Most of them were male (96.4%) and had a history of drug use (85.7%). The prevalence of drug injection among drug users was 20%, of which 32.9% had a history of shared injection. The prevalence of drug injection among prisoners with aKLVWRU\ RI WDWWRRLQJ LV DVVRFLDWHG ZLWK DJH 35 \HDUV (P=0.002), being single (P=0.049), Duration of imprisonment (P<0.001), and history of sexually transmitted infection (P=0.021).Conclusion: The prevalence of drug injection increases in the presence of other high-risk behaviors. It is necessary to initiate harm reduction programs and preventive interventions in groups with multiple high-risk behaviors.

Keywords:

Drug injection , Prisoners , Tattooing