Table 1. Descriptive characteristics of 474 injection drug users followed for two years in a Karachi, Pakistan cohort.
| Characteristic | n (%) |
| Age (mean in years ± S.D.) | 30.0±9.0 |
| HIV serostatus at the end of the cohort period | |
| Positive | 118 (24.9) |
| Negative | 356 (75.1) |
| Source of registration in the study | |
| Outreach | 361 (76.2) |
| Othersa | 113 (23.8) |
| Religion | |
| Muslim | 418 (88.2) |
| Christian | 54 (11.4) |
| Hindu | 2 (0.4) |
| Ethnicity | |
| Sindhi | 225 (47.5) |
| Non Sindhib | 249 (52.5) |
| Education | |
| Some formal education | 130 (27.4) |
| No formal education | 344 (72.6) |
| Professional skills | |
| None | 280 (59.1) |
| Some | 194 (40.9) |
| Currently sharing of needles/syringes | |
| Yes | 101 (21.3) |
| No | 373 (78.7) |
| History of arrest, ever | |
| No | 222 (46.8) |
| Yes | 252 (53.2) |
| Physical disability | |
| Yes | 14 (3.0) |
| No | 460 (97.0) |
| Marital status | |
| Married | 220 (46.4) |
| Un-married | 254 (53.6) |
| Monthly income in rupees c | |
| <5000 | 277 (58.4) |
| >5000 | 197 (41.6) |
| Last syringe used | |
| New | 422 (89.0) |
| Used | 52 (11.0) |
| Source of syringe | |
| Drop-in-centers (DIC) and mobile service units (MSU) | 160 (33.8) |
| Othersd | 314 (66.2) |
| Know about HIV/AIDS | |
| Yes | 24 (5.1) |
| No | 450 (94.9) |
| Know about dangers of needle sharing | |
| Yes | 21 (4.4) |
| No | 453 (95.6) |
| Ever treated for sexually transmitted infection | |
| Yes | 9 (1.9) |
| No | 465 (98.1) |
| Knows that HIV spreads through unprotected sex | |
| Yes | 49 (10.3) |
| No | 425 (89.7) |
| Typical location of drug use | |
| Home | 69 (14.6) |
| Street | 405 (85.4) |
| Living in streets | |
| No | 203 (42.8) |
| Yes | 271 (57.2) |
| Frequency of daily drug use (mean and S.De) | 3.7±1.4 |
a Government organization, non-governmental organization, community, and friends.
b Non-Muslim included 54 Christians and 2 Hindus vs. 418 Muslims.
≈US$ 56.c Approximately 90 rupees per US dollar in this time period, such that 5000 rupees
d Pharmacy, friends, and hospital garbage.
e Drop-in center (DIC) and mobile service unit (MSU).