[Survey of behaviors and knowledge about HIV/AIDS among intravenous drug users at a city in Sichuan Province].
OBJECTIVE
To understand high risk behaviors related to HIV/AIDS and the intravenous drug users' knowledge about HIV/AIDS.


METHODS
Forty-eight intravenous drug users (IDUs) were interviewed by using questionnaires.


RESULTS
The survey showed that 75% of the subjects were male, 83.3% of their educational levels were below junior middle school, and most of them lived in cities(83.0%), having no occupation or having special occupation. The age at the beginning of drug use was 11 years old, the ages in cities were earlier than those in the countryside (F = 3.898, P = 0.029). For the reasons of using drug, 58.1% of IDUs did so through curiosity; 57.1% of IDUs had ever shared the syringes and needles with others, 62.5% of them shared with fixed people. 79.5% of the IDUs had casual sex partners, and 68.75% had multiple sex partners, but only less than 40% of them used condoms when having sex with casual partner.


CONCLUSIONS
There are many high risk factors related to the IDUs' drug addiction and sex behaviors which can facilitate the transmission of HIV.
Ma
Xiao
X
Department of Health Education, West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Ge
Jie
J
Zhang
Ju-ying
JY
Wen
Wen
W
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000635:transmission*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D017280:Condoms; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires