Table I.
Characteristics of 1158 IDUs in the Madras Injection Drug User and AIDS Cohort Study, Chennai, India (2005-2009)a
| Total Cohort (n = 1158) | HCV negative (n = 527) | HCV positive (n = 631) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median age (IQR) yr | 35 (29 - 40) | 34 (27 - 41) | 35(31 - 39) | <0.01 |
| Ethnicity | 0.21 | |||
| Tamil | 1,142 (98.6) | 523 (99.2) | 619 (98.1) | |
| Other | 16 (1.39) | 4 (0.76) | 12 (1.90) | |
| Marital status | <0.001 | |||
| Single | 356 (30.7) | 136 (25.8) | 220 (34.9) | |
| Married/living with partner | 764 (64.4) | 376 (71.4) | 369 (58.4) | |
| Separated | 41 (3.5) | 9 (1.7) | 32 (5.1) | |
| Divorced/widowed | 16 (1.36) | 6 (1.14) | 9 (1.56) | |
| Educational attainment | 0.06 | |||
| None | 323 (27.9) | 158 (30.0) | 165 (26.2) | |
| Primary | 393 (33.9) | 189 (35.9) | 204 (32.3) | |
| Secondary | 295 (25.5) | 126 (23.9) | 169 (26.8) | |
| High school/university/professional | 147 (12.7) | 54 (10.3) | 93 (14.7) | |
| Type of employment | <0.001 | |||
| Monthly wages | 75 (6.5) | 26 (4.9) | 49 (7.8) | |
| Weekly wages | 61 (5.3) | 20 (3.8) | 41 (6.5) | |
| Daily wages | 910 (78.6) | 444 (84.3) | 466 (73.9) | |
| Unemployment | 112 (9.7) | 37 (7.0) | 75 (11.9) | |
| Monthly income | <0.001 | |||
| <USD 12 | 119 (10.3) | 41 (7.8) | 78 (12.4) | |
| USD 12-36 | 499 (43.1) | 249 (47.3) | 250 (39.6) | |
| USD 37-72 | 437 (37.7) | 207 (39.3) | 230 (36.5) | |
| >USD 72 | 103 (8.9) | 30 (5.7) | 73 (11.6) | |
| Frequency of alcohol consumption | <0.001 | |||
| Never | 244 (21.1) | 82 (15.6) | 162 (25.7) | |
| Less than once a week | 372 (32.1) | 140 (26.6) | 232 (36.8) | |
| More than once or once per week | 542 (46.8) | 305 (57.8) | 237 (37.6) | |
| Median age at initiation of drug use (IQR) yr | 25 (20-30) | 25 (20-32) | 23 (20-28) | <0.001 |
| Frequency of drug injectionb | <0.001 | |||
| None | 281 (24.3) | 162 (30.7) | 119 (18.9) | |
| < daily | 688 (59.4) | 335 (63.6) | 353 (55.9) | |
| ≥ daily | 189 (16.3) | 30 (5.7) | 159 (25.2) | |
| Drugs used by injectionb | ||||
| Heroin | 609 (52.6) | 201 (38.1) | 408 (64.7) | |
| Buprenorphine | 175 (15.1) | 124 (23.5) | 51 (29.1) | |
| Both | 93 (8.0) | 50 (7.6) | 53 (8.4) | |
| Daily marijuana useb | 473 (40.8) | 212 (40.2) | 260 (41.2) | 0.74 |
| Any pharmaceutical drug useb | 399 (34.5) | 139 (26.4) | 269 (41.2) | <0.001 |
| HIV positive | 293 (25.3) | 16 (3.0) | 277 (43.9) | <0.001 |
| Chronic HBV infection | 119 (10.3) | 55 (10.4) | 64 (10.1) | 0.87 |
a
Data are presented as N (%) unless otherwise specified and P values were calculated using χ2 test or the Mann-Whitney test. IDUs, injection drug users; HCV, hepatitis C virus; HBV, hepatitis B virus; IQR, interquartile range;
b
refers to behaviours in the prior one month at baseline. Missing data for drugs used by infection reflect individuals who did not inject in the prior one month at baseline