Factors Correlated With Hepatitis C and B Virus Infections Among Injecting Drug Users in Tehran, IR Iran

Background: in iran, the number of injecting drug users (idus) has increased in recent years. the rates of hepatitis c virus (hcv) and hepatitis b virus (hbv) infections among idus are reportedly high..objectives: the purpose of this study was to assess factors correlated with hcv and hbv infections among idus in tehran.patients and methods: a cross-sectional study included 899 idus recruited from the community, drug treatment centers, and drop-in-centers. the study involved interviews conducted using an adapted version of the who drug injection study phase ii (version 2b) questionnaire and blood testing for the hcv antibody, hepatitis b surface antigen, and hepatitis b core antibody. a logistic regression model was used to identify independent factors correlated with hcv and hbv infections.results: hcv infection was found to be primarily associated with female gender [odds ratio (or) 5.0, 95% confidence interval (ci) 2.0-10.0)], unmarried status (or 2.9, 95% ci 1.9-4.4), drug use for more than 10 years (or 2.7, 95% ci 1.8-3.9), drug injection frequency of more than once per day (or 2.6, 95% ci 1.6-4.2), history of imprisonment (or 2.5, 95% ci 1.6-4.0)], and a history of shared injection needles in prison (or 2.3, 95% ci 1.5-3.6). hbv infection was mainly correlated with a history of imprisonment (or 1.9, 95% ci 1.4-2.7) and drug use for more than 10 years (or 1.4, 95% ci 1.1-1.9).conclusions: because a considerable number of idus in iran are receiving reduction services, tailoring services for prevention of hepatitis infection are necessary.