Factors Associated With the Transition From Drug Abuse To Initiation of Injection Drug Use

Objectives: drug injection carries with it many risks and therefore it is important to understand theinitiating factors of injection and its origins. thus,  the purpose of this study was to identify factorsassociated with the initiation of injection drug use among substance abusers.methods:  study method was a cross-sectional study. the research statistics universe constitutes allpeople suffering from a substance dependence disorder with a pattern of injection use in tehran andhamedan. this study was conducted among 216 individuals with substance dependence disorders whowere selected from harm reduction centers in tehran and hamedan. the sampling selection method wassimply random. the instruments used for data collection included: demographic information, patterns ofdrug use and initiation of injection scales. results: in this study, the average age of initiation to injections was 22.5 years. factors associated withinitiation of drug injection included: acquired more pleasure, easier use, faster effect of injection,ineffective previous use method, curiosity, peer pressure, lack of availability of the drug, poverty, and lowquality drugs.conclusions: results of this study indicate that initiation factors to drug injection are multifaceted(psychological, social, economic and environmental), therefore, injection interventionists shouldconsider all these factors for prevention, treatment and harm reduction.