Tuberculosis prevalence and some related factors among injecting drug users in Hai Phong

Abstract

People who inject drugs (IDUs) are a high-risk group of tuberculosis (TB). A cross-sectional descriptive study conducted on 2 groups of IDUs with HIV positive and HIV negative from a cohort study using the Responding Driven Sampling-RDS in Hai Phong in 2018 to evaluate TB prevalence and some related factors in this high-risk population. There were 885 study subjects screened for TB using a TB symptom questionnaire. If there are any symptoms, they have been transferred to perform chest X-ray and sputum test using Xpert MTB/RIF technique to confirm TB diagnosis. The study results showed that the majority of IDUs were male (92.3%), the median age of HIV negative and HIV positive groups was 42.5 (IQR 35.0-50.0) and 41.0 (IQR 37.0-45.0), respectively. Regarding the characteristics of substance use in the past 6 months, 64.7% of IDUs were still using heroin, 52.5% were smoking ice and 63.2% were receiving Methadone treatment. TB prevalence in the HIV-positive group was 2.3% (95% CI 1.0-4.5) and in the HIV-negative group was 2.1% (95% CI 0.8-4.2). Factors associated with TB incidence include living with a sexual partner, being arrested within the last 6 months, homelessness, and smoking methamphetamine. Appropriate interventions are needed on TB screening and treatment for IDUs in Hai Phong.