European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Introduction: Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) raise a significant public health concern because of the associated risk of spread of infections like HIV, Hepatitis B and C. Andhra Pradesh has been ranked fourth in the entire country with regard to prevalence of injecting drugs like heroin and opioids, as well as having high prevalence of HIV and Hepatitis C cases. Practices that lead to transmission of Sexually transmitted diseases are termed risk behaviours. Objectives: Study of factors associated with risk behaviours among IDUs which led to spread of parenterally transmitted infections for understanding and planning of better management. Methodology: Observational descriptive study carried out among IDUs attending a Targeted Intervention Centre at Visakhapatnam from November 2020 to February 2021. Sociodemographic details were recorded using a pretested semi structured interview schedule and interview was done for assessing prevalence of risk behaviours. Results: The median age of participants in the study was 31.7 years. 2% participant reported as being attracted to both men and women (bisexual) while 98% of the participants reported heterosexuality. Out of the 65 study participants registered at the targeted intervention center for OST, 26 (40%) participants had reported using injecting drugs in the last one month with almost three-fourth of them admitted to injecting either once or multiple times a day. Conclusions: Socio-demographic factors like lower age, lower education, employment and marital status are statistically significant in prevalence of unsafe injection and sexual practices. The findings suggest that IDUs in the study area have tendency to engage in risk behaviours, but TIC has been effective in its reduction.