Profile of Injection Drug Users (IDUs) in Kermanshah, Iran

Background and aims: Injection drug use is considered as an international public health threat that can lead to serious health-related outcomes.OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to obtain profile of injection drug Users (IDUs) in Kermanshah, Iran in 2017.Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 606 male (IDUs) that were recruited from 2 Drop In Centers (DICs) in Kermanshah using snowball sampling. Continuous variables are expressed as mean ± standard deviation, and categorical variables are presented as frequency and percentage.Results: The mean age of participants in this study was 36.7±8.51 years and mean age at first drug injection was 29.35 ±8.04 years. The most frequency of injection drugs were heroin (99.00%), methamphetamine (86.00%) and Opium (85.00%) respectively. The lowest injection drugs were opium syrup (0.50%), ecstasy (0.50%) and amphorphine (0.20%).Conclusion: Based on findings of this study, heroin, methamphetamine and opium had the most frequency injection among male IDUs in Kermanshah and age at first drug injection is low among them. Wider coverage prevention programs including harm reduction programs, and counseling centers with improved quality of services, treatment programs, greater attention to HRD-based counseling and education are highly recommended.