Risky behaviors for HIV infection among male incarcerated injection drug users in Taiwan: a case-control study

Abstract

Taiwan has experiencing an outbreak of HIV infection among injection drug users (IDUs) since 2003. A case-control study was conducted to determine the behavioral characteristics associated with HIV infection among IDUs. The study identified 120 inmates with HIV infection and 121 matched HIV-negative controls from prisons. Data were collected by face-to-face interviews. The study found 48.1% of IDUs shared needles, less than a half of IDUs reported sexual intercourse before incarceration and only 19.7% used condoms. The multivariate logistic regression analysis, adjusted for years of heroin injection, found that HIV infection was independently associated with the use of a used needle or syringe at the latest injection (odds ratio [OR], 8.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.3–20.2, p<0.001), having HIV-infected relatives or friends (OR, 5.7; 95%CI, 2.5–13.2, p<0.001) and sharing containers with others (OR, 3.3; 95%CI, 1.2–8.8, p=0.02). Our findings highlight the importance of needle exchange programs along with HIV-prevention education.

Keywords:

• HIV infection
• injection drug users
• risk behaviors

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all participants in the study. The authors acknowledge the dedication of officers in Tainan Detention Center and Tainan Prison and Yi-Wen Chen, Yu-Ting Zhu, Zhao-Rong Huang, Pei-Ren Chuo, Ming-Chu Feng and Shu-Juan Chen for their assistance in data collection.