[Evaluation of a pilot study on needle and syringe exchange program among injecting drug users in a community in Guangdong, China].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of needle and syringe exchange program among a community of injecting drug users (IDUs) on AIDS prevention.


METHODS
A quasi-experiment design was used in a controlled community intervention study. Needle and syringe exchange program was implemented for 10 months in IDUs of an intervention community, including peer education and health education, provision of free needles and syringes, and collecting back of used needles and syringes by trained peer educators and local health workers, whereas no intervention measure in a control community was instituted. Interviews with IDUs were conducted before and after intervention with a snowballing strategy to evaluate its effectiveness.


RESULTS
A total of 428 and 429 IDUs were interviewed with structured questionnaire before and after intervention in intervention and control communities, respectively. Results revealed that awareness of HIV-related knowledge increased from 29.4% to 58.7% in the intervention community. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that awareness of HIV-related knowledge was higher in those who had read health education materials (OR = 2.93, 95% CI 2.12 - 4.04). As compared with the baseline data, frequency of sharing needles and syringes in past 30 days in the intervention community decreased from 48.9% to 20.4% in before intervention community (chi(2) = 41.02, P = 0.001), whereas there was no significant change in the control community. The causes of sharing needles and syringes in the intervention community included 'disable to get needle and syringe during the night', 'lack of needle and syringe when injecting at friend's home', 'not daring to buy needle and syringe for fear of being arrested' and 'no money to buy needle and syringe', declined markedly.


CONCLUSIONS
Needle and syringe exchange program was feasible and effective in reducing their risky drug injecting behavior among IDUs in communities. Such strategy should be adopted in the country to reduce rapid spread of HIV.
Lin
Peng
P
Department of AIDS Control and Prerention, Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangzhou 510300, China.
Fan
Zi-Fan
ZF
Yang
Fang
F
Wu
Zun-You
ZY
Wang
Ye
Y
Liu
Yong-Ying
YY
Ming
Zhong-Qiang
ZQ
Li
Wen-Jie
WJ
Luo
Wei
W
Fu
Xiao-Bing
XB
Mai
Xin-Rong
XR
Xu
Rui-Heng
RH
Feng
Wen-Yue
WY
He
Qun
Q
D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016485:Needle Sharing / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018671:Needle-Exchange Programs / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015397:Program Evaluation; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology