title: HIV Risk Perception and Risky Behavior Among People Who Inject Drugs in Kermanshah, Western Iran.
abstract: Understanding and increasing awareness on individual risk for HIV infection as well as HIV risk perception's effects on different behavioral outcomes for people who inject drugs (PWID) is important for policymaking and planning purposes. The objectives of the present study were to determine whether HIV risk perception was associated with greater injection and sexual risk-taking behaviors among PWIDs.
  
  
  
  We surveyed 460 PWID in Kermanshah regarding their demographic characteristics, sexual risk behaviors, HIV risk perception, and drug-related risk behaviors in the month prior to the study. Three classes of HIV risk perception were identified using ordinal regression to determine factors associated with HIV risk perception.
  
  
  
  Study participants were categorized as follows: "low" (n = 100, 22%), "moderate" (n = 150, 32%), and "high" (n = 210, 46%) risk perception for becoming infected with HIV. The odds of categorizing as "high" risk for HIV was significantly greater in PWID that reported unprotected sex (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.4, p value 0.02), receptive syringe sharing (AOR 1.8, p value 0.01), and multiple sex partners (AOR 1.4, p value 0.03). PWID who reported unprotected sex had 2.7 times the odds of "high" risk perception when compared to PWID with "low" risk perception.
  
  
  
  Findings show that PWID could rate their HIV risk with acceptable accuracy. Additionally, perceived HIV risk was associated with many risk factors for transmission of HIV, emphasizing the importance of developing targeted prevention and harm reduction programs for all domains of risk behaviors, both sexual and drug-related use.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noroozi
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Elahe
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ahounbar
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Salah Eddin
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Karimi
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Sina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahmadi
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Najafi
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bazrafshan
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra Jorjoran
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Shushtari
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Hassan
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Farhadi
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Higgs
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rezaei
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hesam
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ghiasvand
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Asaad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharhani
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. bahramarmun@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bahram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Armoon
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Waye
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D010465:Perception; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: HIV risk perception; Inject drugs; Risky behavior