The relationship between risk behaviors and HIV infection among male injecting drug users in Son La province, Vietnam

Abstract

Several studies have been carried out to understand reasons for HIV infection among injecting drug users (IDUs) in developing countries, and in Vietnam as well. The o bjective of the study wa s to describe and analyze demographic charac teristics and risk behaviors of sharing needles, and unprotected sexual intercourse r elating to HIV status among IDUs in Son La province. The data wa s collected by quantitative method from a baseline survey that was conducted by the Vietnam A dminis tration of HIV/AIDS Control and the Departme nt of Health of Son La province from Nov 2006 to Jan 2007 in 5 districts of Son La province in Vietnam. The result of voluntary and anonymous HIV blood testing was entered in to the data set which was analyzed by l ogisti c regression. The major result of this study shows that male IDUs who share needles are 7 9 .1 % more likely to be infected with H IV than the male IDUs who do not share needles. In addition, younger male IDUs and male IDUs who are single are more likely to b e infected with HIV than those who are older or those who are married . Needle sharing is a more common risk behavior among the male IDUs who are lacking in HIV/AIDS knowledge and HIV prevention information. Overall, the results presented in this study sugg est that appropriate intervention aimed at reducing the risk behavior of sharing needles among male IDUs is desirable