TY - JOUR
T1 - Willingness to utilize supervised injection facilities among people who inject drugs in Iran
T2 - Findings from 2020 national HIV bio-behavioral surveillance survey
AU - Khezri, Mehrdad
AU - Karamouzian, Mohammad
AU - Sharifi, Hamid
AU - Ghalekhani, Nima
AU - Tavakoli, Fatemeh
AU - Mehmandoost, Soheil
AU - Mehrabi, Fatemeh
AU - Pedarzadeh, Marjan
AU - Nejat, Mehdi
AU - Noroozi, Alireza
AU - Baral, Stefan
AU - Shokoohi, Mostafa
N1 - Funding Information:
A special thank you to the study participants who spent time and took part in the survey, as well as all the research staff and stakeholder at national and local organizations for their help and assistance to the survey preparation and implementation. The authors received no funding for this specific paper. The project was supported by the Center for Communicable Disease Control and prevention of Iran Ministry of Health and Medical Education. Mohammad Karamouzian is supported by the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Doctoral Scholarship. Mostafa Shokoohi is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2021/11
Y1 - 2021/11
N2 - Background: Supervised injection facilities (SIFs) have not yet been integrated into Iran's harm reduction programs. This study aimed to report the extent to which people who inject drugs (PWID) in Iran are willing to use SIFs. Methods: Participants were recruited from 11 major cities using respondent-driven sampling. Willingness to use SIFs was defined as a three-level categorical variable: low, moderate, or high. Results: Of 2,490 PWID, 52.8% and 23.8% reported high and moderate willingness to use SIFs, respectively. PWID with a history of homelessness (relative-risk ratio (RRR): 2.22, 95% CI: 1.76–2.80), incarceration (1.86 [1.48–2.35]), hepatitis C infection (1.49 [1.13–1.97]), and non-fatal overdose (2.30 [1.69–3.13]) were more likely to be willing to utilize SIFs. Willingness to use SIFs was also higher among PWID who reported recent public injecting (2.24 [1.70–2.97]), daily injection (1.82 [1.35–2.45]), stimulants injection (2.39 [1.41–4.07]), syringe sharing (3.09 [1.23-7.74]), harm reduction services utilization (2.80 [2.13–3.68]), and food insecurity (8.28 [5.43-12.63]). Conclusion: The majority of PWID in Iran expressed willingness to use SIFs, in particular, those who were involved in higher-risk injection practices, dealing with structural risks, and had experienced drug-related harms. SIFs represent critical opportunities to deliver comprehensive harm reduction services to improve the health and well-being of PWID in Iran.
AB - Background: Supervised injection facilities (SIFs) have not yet been integrated into Iran's harm reduction programs. This study aimed to report the extent to which people who inject drugs (PWID) in Iran are willing to use SIFs. Methods: Participants were recruited from 11 major cities using respondent-driven sampling. Willingness to use SIFs was defined as a three-level categorical variable: low, moderate, or high. Results: Of 2,490 PWID, 52.8% and 23.8% reported high and moderate willingness to use SIFs, respectively. PWID with a history of homelessness (relative-risk ratio (RRR): 2.22, 95% CI: 1.76–2.80), incarceration (1.86 [1.48–2.35]), hepatitis C infection (1.49 [1.13–1.97]), and non-fatal overdose (2.30 [1.69–3.13]) were more likely to be willing to utilize SIFs. Willingness to use SIFs was also higher among PWID who reported recent public injecting (2.24 [1.70–2.97]), daily injection (1.82 [1.35–2.45]), stimulants injection (2.39 [1.41–4.07]), syringe sharing (3.09 [1.23-7.74]), harm reduction services utilization (2.80 [2.13–3.68]), and food insecurity (8.28 [5.43-12.63]). Conclusion: The majority of PWID in Iran expressed willingness to use SIFs, in particular, those who were involved in higher-risk injection practices, dealing with structural risks, and had experienced drug-related harms. SIFs represent critical opportunities to deliver comprehensive harm reduction services to improve the health and well-being of PWID in Iran.
KW - Harm reduction
KW - Iran
KW - People who inject drugs
KW - Supervised injection facilities
KW - Surveillance
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U2 - 10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103355
DO - 10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103355
M3 - Article
C2 - 34242959
AN - SCOPUS:85110160206
SN - 0955-3959
VL - 97
JO - International Journal of Drug Policy
JF - International Journal of Drug Policy
M1 - 103355
ER -