HIV Risk Perception and Risky Behavior Among People Who Inject Drugs in Kermanshah, Western Iran
© 2017, International Society of Behavioral Medicine. Purpose: Understanding and increasing awareness on individual risk for HIV infection as well as HIV risk perception’s effects on different behavioral outcomes for people who inject drugs (PWID) is important for policymaking and planning purpos...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Springer New York LLC
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/63448 |
| _version_ | 1848761090269249536 |
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| author | Noroozi, M. Ahounbar, E. Karimi, S. Ahmadi, S. Najafi, M. Bazrafshan, A. Shushtari, Z. Farhadi, M. Higgs, Peter Rezaei, F. Ghiasvand, H. Sharhani, A. Armoon, B. Waye, K. |
| author_facet | Noroozi, M. Ahounbar, E. Karimi, S. Ahmadi, S. Najafi, M. Bazrafshan, A. Shushtari, Z. Farhadi, M. Higgs, Peter Rezaei, F. Ghiasvand, H. Sharhani, A. Armoon, B. Waye, K. |
| author_sort | Noroozi, M. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © 2017, International Society of Behavioral Medicine. Purpose: Understanding and increasing awareness on individual risk for HIV infection as well as HIV risk perception’s effects on different behavioral outcomes for people who inject drugs (PWID) is important for policymaking and planning purposes. The objectives of the present study were to determine whether HIV risk perception was associated with greater injection and sexual risk-taking behaviors among PWIDs. Method: We surveyed 460 PWID in Kermanshah regarding their demographic characteristics, sexual risk behaviors, HIV risk perception, and drug-related risk behaviors in the month prior to the study. Three classes of HIV risk perception were identified using ordinal regression to determine factors associated with HIV risk perception. Results: Study participants were categorized as follows: “low� (n = 100, 22%), “moderate� (n = 150, 32%), and “high� (n = 210, 46%) risk perception for becoming infected with HIV. The odds of categorizing as “high� risk for HIV was significantly greater in PWID that reported unprotected sex (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.4, p value 0.02), receptive syringe sharing (AOR 1.8, p value 0.01), and multiple sex partners (AOR 1.4, p value 0.03). PWID who reported unprotected sex had 2.7 times the odds of “high� risk perception when compared to PWID with “low� risk perception. Conclusion: Findings show that PWID could rate their HIV risk with acceptable accuracy. Additionally, perceived HIV risk was associated with many risk factors for transmission of HIV, emphasizing the importance of developing targeted prevention and harm reduction programs for all domains of risk behaviors, both sexual and drug-related use. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:26:08Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-63448 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:26:08Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Springer New York LLC |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-634482018-02-06T07:40:43Z HIV Risk Perception and Risky Behavior Among People Who Inject Drugs in Kermanshah, Western Iran Noroozi, M. Ahounbar, E. Karimi, S. Ahmadi, S. Najafi, M. Bazrafshan, A. Shushtari, Z. Farhadi, M. Higgs, Peter Rezaei, F. Ghiasvand, H. Sharhani, A. Armoon, B. Waye, K. © 2017, International Society of Behavioral Medicine. Purpose: Understanding and increasing awareness on individual risk for HIV infection as well as HIV risk perception’s effects on different behavioral outcomes for people who inject drugs (PWID) is important for policymaking and planning purposes. The objectives of the present study were to determine whether HIV risk perception was associated with greater injection and sexual risk-taking behaviors among PWIDs. Method: We surveyed 460 PWID in Kermanshah regarding their demographic characteristics, sexual risk behaviors, HIV risk perception, and drug-related risk behaviors in the month prior to the study. Three classes of HIV risk perception were identified using ordinal regression to determine factors associated with HIV risk perception. Results: Study participants were categorized as follows: “low� (n = 100, 22%), “moderate� (n = 150, 32%), and “high� (n = 210, 46%) risk perception for becoming infected with HIV. The odds of categorizing as “high� risk for HIV was significantly greater in PWID that reported unprotected sex (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.4, p value 0.02), receptive syringe sharing (AOR 1.8, p value 0.01), and multiple sex partners (AOR 1.4, p value 0.03). PWID who reported unprotected sex had 2.7 times the odds of “high� risk perception when compared to PWID with “low� risk perception. Conclusion: Findings show that PWID could rate their HIV risk with acceptable accuracy. Additionally, perceived HIV risk was associated with many risk factors for transmission of HIV, emphasizing the importance of developing targeted prevention and harm reduction programs for all domains of risk behaviors, both sexual and drug-related use. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/63448 10.1007/s12529-017-9634-7 Springer New York LLC restricted |
| spellingShingle | Noroozi, M. Ahounbar, E. Karimi, S. Ahmadi, S. Najafi, M. Bazrafshan, A. Shushtari, Z. Farhadi, M. Higgs, Peter Rezaei, F. Ghiasvand, H. Sharhani, A. Armoon, B. Waye, K. HIV Risk Perception and Risky Behavior Among People Who Inject Drugs in Kermanshah, Western Iran |
| title | HIV Risk Perception and Risky Behavior Among People Who Inject Drugs in Kermanshah, Western Iran |
| title_full | HIV Risk Perception and Risky Behavior Among People Who Inject Drugs in Kermanshah, Western Iran |
| title_fullStr | HIV Risk Perception and Risky Behavior Among People Who Inject Drugs in Kermanshah, Western Iran |
| title_full_unstemmed | HIV Risk Perception and Risky Behavior Among People Who Inject Drugs in Kermanshah, Western Iran |
| title_short | HIV Risk Perception and Risky Behavior Among People Who Inject Drugs in Kermanshah, Western Iran |
| title_sort | hiv risk perception and risky behavior among people who inject drugs in kermanshah, western iran |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/63448 |