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Needle and Syringe Programs and HIV-Related Risk Behaviors Among Men Who Inject Drugs: A Multilevel Analysis of Two Cities in Iran

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Abstract

Background

Many studies have found significant differences in HIV risk at the community and socioeconomic levels. However, few have considered variations in needle and syringe program (Jin et al., Oral Dis. 1;22(7):609–19) coverage and other community characteristics on HIV risk behaviors among people who inject drugs (PWIDs). Our objective was to study the relationship between individual factors and city-level characteristics (such as the city’s coverage of harm reduction programs) on HIV risk behavior among PWID residing in two cities in Iran.

Methods

The study was conducted from March to August 2016 in Tehran and Kermanshah provinces. One thousand PWID were recruited by a convenience sampling recruitment at local NSP Drop-in Centers (DIC) and through “snowball sampling” (i.e., using peers to refer participants to the study). We first examined associations between individual-level variables and HIV risk behaviors in bivariate analysis using the chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests, as appropriate. Next, multi-level models were constructed to determine the amount of variability in HIV risk behavior that could be accounted for by individual- and community-level characteristics. Variables with p value < 0.2 were included in the multiple logistic regression model.

Results

The results of the multilevel modeling showed that 32% of the variability in HIV risk behaviors among PWID could be explained by factors that differed between the two cities. When individual factors including higher HIV knowledge, access to NSP, higher HIV risk perception, and methamphetamine use were all included in the final model, 22% of the variability in HIV risk behaviors could be explained to city-level variables.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that expanding the accessibility (i.e., hours and venues) and community-level coverage of NSP services by establishing programs where PWID congregate might reduce HIV risk behavior among PWID.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully thank all staff in the DICs in Tehran and Kermanshah cities who contributed in recruiting and data collection/interview. We thank participants for their time and interest in the study.

Funding

This study was funded by the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Office (SAPTO) of Mental Health, Social Health and Addiction Department (MeHSHAD) of Ministry of Health, and Medical Education, Islamic Republic of Iran.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social Determinants of Health Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mehdi Noroozi & Hesam Ghisvand

  2. Department of Neuroscience and Addiction, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Alireza Noroozi

  3. HIV/STI Surveillance Research Center, and WHO Collaborating Center for HIV Surveillance, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    Hamid Sharifi

  4. Social Welfare Management Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Gholamreza Ghaedamini Harouni

  5. Department of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA

    Brandon D. L. Marshall

  6. Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran

    Mostafa Qorbani

  7. Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Saveh University of Medical Sciences, Saveh, Iran

    Bahram Armoon

  8. School of Nursing and Midwifery, Saveh University of Medical Sciences, Saveh, Iran

    Bahram Armoon

  9. Tehran-Saveh freeway, Kaveh Industrial Estate company, Saveh, 3914334911, Iran

    Bahram Armoon

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  1. Mehdi Noroozi
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Contributions

Study concept and design MN and BA. Analysis and interpretation of data: HGH and GH. MQ: Drafting the manuscript. MN, AM and AN: Critical revision of the manuscript: MN, BA and BM.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bahram Armoon.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Noroozi, M., Noroozi, A., Sharifi, H. et al. Needle and Syringe Programs and HIV-Related Risk Behaviors Among Men Who Inject Drugs: A Multilevel Analysis of Two Cities in Iran. Int.J. Behav. Med. 26, 50–58 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-018-9758-4

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