Prevalence of HIV and Hepatitis C and access to opioid substitution treatment among people who inject drugs in three cities in Croatia: findings from the second wave of respondent-driven sampling surveys.

IF 4 2区社会学 Q1 SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Harm Reduction Journal Pub Date : 2025-03-04 DOI:10.1186/s12954-025-01174-3

Sandra Šević, Goran Koletić, Tatjana Nemeth Blažić, Mirjana Lana Kosanović Ličina, Josipa-Lovorka Andreić, Senad Handanagić, Magda Pletikosa Pavić, Ivana Božičević

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Abstract

Background: The second wave of integrated bio-behavioural surveys was conducted among people who inject drugs (PWID) in the cities of Zagreb, Split, and Rijeka in Croatia to estimate the prevalence of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies and sexual and injecting risk behaviours.

Methods: Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) was used to recruit a total of 301 PWID in Split, 130 in Rijeka, and 86 in Zagreb from March to July 2022. Participants provided biological specimens for HIV and HCV testing and completed a behavioural questionnaire. RDS-Analyst software was used to calculate weighted population estimates with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).

Results: Approximately one in four PWID were women (range from 24.3% in Zagreb to 29.9% in Rijeka). Overall, HIV prevalence was low, with no cases identified in Zagreb, and 0.6% and 0.8% in Split and Rijeka, respectively. HCV antibody prevalence was 37.2% among PWID in Zagreb and Rijeka, and as high as 59.5% in Split. Testing for HIV and HCV in the 12 months before the survey was reported by 11.3-19.8% and 17.3-21.6% of PWID across the cities, respectively. Use of needles and syringes in the past 30 days that had already been used by someone else was reported by 8.9-26.5% across the cities. A large proportion of PWID-54.0% in Zagreb, 31.0% in Rijeka and 29.9% in Split-never used needle and syringe exchange programmes. Being in drug addiction treatment at the time of the survey was reported by 50.8% in Split, 57.3% in Rijeka and 73.3% in Zagreb. Injecting cocaine in 30 days before the survey was common, ranging from 12.7 to 32.1% across the cities.

Conclusion: HIV prevalence continues to be low among PWID in Croatia, whereas HCV prevalence is substantial. Due to low coverage of HIV and HCV testing and insufficient use of harm reduction services, there is a potential for further spread of drug-related infectious diseases in this population.

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克罗地亚三个城市注射吸毒者中艾滋病毒和丙型肝炎的流行情况和获得阿片类药物替代治疗的情况：第二波受访者驱动抽样调查的结果。

背景：在克罗地亚萨格勒布、斯普利特和里耶卡等城市的注射吸毒者（PWID）中进行了第二波综合生物行为调查，以估计艾滋病毒和丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）抗体的流行情况以及性和注射风险行为。方法：采用问卷调查驱动抽样（RDS）方法，于2022年3 - 7月在斯普利特、里耶卡和萨格勒布分别招募301名、130名和86名PWID。参与者提供了用于HIV和HCV检测的生物标本，并完成了一份行为问卷。使用RDS-Analyst软件以95%置信区间（95% CI）计算加权总体估计值。结果：大约四分之一的PWID是女性（从萨格勒布的24.3%到里耶卡的29.9%）。总体而言，艾滋病毒流行率很低，萨格勒布没有发现病例，斯普利特和里耶卡分别为0.6%和0.8%。在萨格勒布和里耶卡的PWID中，HCV抗体患病率为37.2%，而在斯普利特则高达59.5%。调查前12个月的HIV和HCV检测分别为11.3-19.8%和17.3-21.6%。在过去30天内使用过他人使用过的针头和注射器的比例为8.9-26.5%。在萨格勒布占54.0%，里耶卡占31.0%，在从未使用过的针头和注射器交换规划中占29.9%。调查时，斯普利特有50.8%的人正在接受药物成瘾治疗，里耶卡有57.3%，萨格勒布有73.3%。在调查前30天注射可卡因的情况很普遍，在各个城市的比例从12.7%到32.1%不等。结论：克罗地亚的艾滋病毒感染率在PWID中仍然很低，而HCV患病率却很高。由于艾滋病毒和丙型肝炎病毒检测的覆盖率低，减少危害服务的利用不足，与药物有关的传染病有可能在这一人群中进一步蔓延。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Harm Reduction Journal Medicine-Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

CiteScore

5.90

自引率

9.10%

发文量

126

审稿时长

26 weeks

期刊介绍： Harm Reduction Journal is an Open Access, peer-reviewed, online journal whose focus is on the prevalent patterns of psychoactive drug use, the public policies meant to control them, and the search for effective methods of reducing the adverse medical, public health, and social consequences associated with both drugs and drug policies. We define "harm reduction" as "policies and programs which aim to reduce the health, social, and economic costs of legal and illegal psychoactive drug use without necessarily reducing drug consumption". We are especially interested in studies of the evolving patterns of drug use around the world, their implications for the spread of HIV/AIDS and other blood-borne pathogens.