PREVALENCE OF INJECTION DRUG AND ITS ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS AMONG SEX WORKERS

Background and Aim : Injection drug use is one of the major public health problems in Iran. Injection drug use is associated with numerous negative health outcomes, such as blood-borne infections (HIV, HCV). The aim of this study was to determine prevalence of injection drug and its associated risk factors among women sex worker in Tehran, Iran.Methods : The cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017 at Tehran province. A total of 185 sex worker were recruited by convenience and snowball sampling from Drop-in Centers (DIC) in the South of Tehran. Our primary outcomes were self-report of ever having injection injecting drug. We first examined associations between individual variables and lifetime history of having injection drug in bivariate analysis using the chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests, as appropriate. Variables with P-value < 0.2 were included in a multiple logistic regression model.Results : Overall, 40% (CI95%: 30.3%, 52.2%) of participants reported ever having An injection drug. In the multivariable model, those with low socioeconomic status (AOR = 2.4, P = .03), self-reported as HIV positive (AOR =1.6, P = .01), reporting drug use in the past (AOR = 4.1, P = .03) and smoking (AOR = 8.5, P = .03) were more likely to have injection drug. Conclusion : We have identified several risk factors for injection drug among women sex worker, including drug use in the past, smoking, HIV status, socioeconomic status with drug injection in women sex worker. Prevention strategies to drug injection should focus on high-risk injection behaviors.

Keywords:

drug injection , women who injected drugs , sex worker , Tehran