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HIV infection among injecting drug users in the South Australian methadone program
Author(s) -
Gaughwin Matthew D,
Ali Robert
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1995.tb139876.x
Subject(s) - methadone , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , drug , medicine , methadone maintenance , virology , family medicine , pharmacology
Objective: To investigate risk factors for infection with HIV among injecting drug users (IDUs) in South Australia. Design: Retrospective case–control study comparing HIV‐infected and uninfected IDUs who had received methadone at any time between January 1981 and June 1991. Results: Most HIV‐infected clients were diagnosed between 1985 and 1987. Men were more likely to be infected than women. A history of imprisonment was associated with a higher risk of infection on univariate but not multivariate analysis. Infected IDUs on average were three years younger than non‐infected IDUs when they first injected drugs. Conclusions: Prevention programs should target young drug injectors. Prisons are important places to institute prevention programs.