Life-time HIV testing among people who inject drugs in Iran: results from the National Rapid Assessment and Response survey

Frontiers in Public Health

Public Health

Peter Higgs¹  Sakineh Narouee²  Neda Soleimanvandiazar³  Leila Moftakhar⁴  Salah Eddin Karimi⁵  Meroe Vameghi⁶  Delaram Ali⁶  P: ayam Roshanfekr⁶ 

[1] Department of Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia;Behaviours and Health Risks Program, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia;Department of Statistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Health, Kerman University Medical of Sciences, Kerman, Iran;Preventive Medicine and Public Health Research Center, Psychosocial Health Research Institute, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Management and Safety Promotion Research Institute, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran;Social Welfare Management Research Center, Social Health Research Institute, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran;

关键词: HIV testing;    people who inject drugs;    PWID;    rapid assessment and response;    Iran;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2023.1253407

 received in 2023-07-05, accepted in 2023-10-04,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundHIV testing is recommended for people who inject drugs (PWID). The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of lifetime HIV testing among PWID and to better understand the predictors for HIV testing in a convenience sample across Iran.Materials and methodsThis study is a secondary analysis of Iran’s National Rapid Assessment and Response survey conducted between October 2016 and March 2017. Analysis includes the 999 people who reported injecting drugs across the capital cities of 21 provinces. Data were collected by using the venue-based application of the Time Location Sampling (TLS) frame. Chi-square tests were used to examine the difference between HIV testing across different quantitative variables. Logistic regression was used to determine the predictors of life-time HIV testing. Analysis was performed using STATA V.12 software with a significance level of 95%.ResultsMost participants were male (n = 902, 93.50%), and over half (n = 555, 59.17%) were older than 35 years old. About one-third, (n = 326, 38%) of people interviewed were single and another one-third (n = 251, 29%) reported being divorced. Over two-thirds of participants (n = 678, 69.78%) in this study reported lifetime HIV testing. The results from a multiple variable logistic regression showed people with a university education were more likely to have been previously tested for HIV than illiterate people (OR = 18.87, 95%CI 2.85–124.6, value of p = 0.002). Those individuals who reported ever receiving methadone treatment were 2.8 times more likely to have been tested for HIV than individuals without methadone treatment experience (OR = 2.89, 95%CI 1.53–5.42, value of p < 0.001). Needle syringe sharing in last month, was negatively associated with life-time HIV testing (OR = 0.29, 95%CI 0.17–0.48, value of p < 0.001).ConclusionDespite Iran’s wide availability and access to counseling services for HIV testing in key populations, the proportion of PWID being tested for HIV could be improved. Developing effective strategies to increase people’s understanding and awareness of the importance of and need for HIV prevention and familiarity with HIV testing sites is an essential step in increasing HIV testing for this population. Studies on more recent HIV testing are required to better assess and understand the frequency of HIV testing among PWID in Iran.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Roshanfekr, Karimi, Narouee, Moftakhar, Vameghi, Ali, Higgs and Soleimanvandiazar.