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March 25-26, 2019 | Amsterdam, Netherlands
2
nd
Global Public Health Congress
Journal of Community Medicine & Health Education | ISSN : 2161-0711
Volume 09
Global Public Health 2019
Early age drug injection initiation as risk factor for HIV/HCV
coinfection among drug users in rural communities of Puerto Rico
T
his study aimed to estimate the prevalence of HIV/HCV coinfection and its association
with drug injection initiation at an early age among drug users residing in the rural
communities of Puerto Rico. With the utilization of a response driven sampling method,
315 intravenous drug users were recruited. Information on sociodemographics, drug
use patterns, age of drug injection initiation, and risk behaviors were obtained through
structured interviews. HIV and HCV status were determined by the results of the INSTI
Rapid HIV and OraQuick Rapid HCV tests. Frequency distributions, bivariate analyses
and multinomial logistic regression were used to assess covariates of HIV/HCV. The study
received IRB approval through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of
Puerto Rico. Approximately 91% of study participants were males. Participants’ mean
age was 41.7 years and the majority had not completed high school (47.6%). More than
three quarters (78.4%) tested positive for HCV during the rapid test, while 6.0% tested
positive for HIV. The prevalence of HIV/HCV coinfection was 6.0%. The mean age of
drug injection initiation was 21.9 years. HIV/HCV coinfection was strongly associated
with drug injection initiation at an early age. The odds of IDUs who initiated drug
injection before 18 years was 3 times the odds of IDUs who commenced drug injection
after 18 years age (OR=3.8 95%; CI=1.3, 11.3). Strengthening policies and effective harm
reduction interventions that prevent early drug injection initiation may reduce HIV/HCV
coinfection among drug users in rural communities in Puerto Rico.
Biography
Juan Carlos Reyes-Pulliza received his EdD from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus in 2003.
He is a Research Associate in the Center for Addiction Studies of the Universidad Central del Caribe. He is
currently a Professor and Director of the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology in the University of
Puerto Rico. He has published over 25 journal articles and chapters in the areas of Epidemiology of Drug
Abuse, Mental Health and HIV risk behaviors. Currently, he is working as Co-investigator on several NIH-
funded grants in Puerto Rico.
juan.reyes5@upr.eduJuan Carlos Reyes-Pulliza, J Community Med Health Educ 2019, Volume 09
DOI: 10.4172/2161-0711-C2-057
Juan Carlos Reyes-Pulliza
University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences
Campus, Puerto Rico