Table 1.
Characteristicsa of people who inject drugs recruited from 15 Indian cites in 2013
| Northeast Cites | North or Central Cities | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIZ | CCP | DIM | GTK | IMP | LGL | MOR | DEL | MUM | AMR | CDH | LUD | BBE | BIL | KAN | |
| Sample size (including “seeds") | 1002 | 1002 | 1002 | 1003 | 1002 | 1002 | 459 | 1001 | 1001 | 1001 | 998 | 1002 | 1002 | 1002 | 1002 |
| Age, years (median) | 26 | 29 | 30 | 28 | 34 | 24 | 32 | 30 | 30 | 27 | 29 | 27 | 32 | 27 | 34 |
| Male (%) | 81.3 | 77.3 | 85.8 | 93.3 | 87.7 | 87.9 | 76.8 | 100 | 96.5 | 98.8 | 99.6 | 99.8 | 99.9 | 99.5 | 99.3 |
| Education (%) | |||||||||||||||
| Primary school or less | 6.2 | 26.6 | 33.7 | 17.3 | 28.9 | 4.9 | 39.4 | 69.3 | 61.4 | 42.0 | 33.8 | 33.9 | 32.0 | 30.1 | 63.3 |
| Secondary school | 63.0 | 49.7 | 51.3 | 38.7 | 38.2 | 68.9 | 55.6 | 27.6 | 33.0 | 45.1 | 48.3 | 40.2 | 46.6 | 46.7 | 27.5 |
| High school and above | 30.9 | 23.6 | 15.0 | 44.0 | 32.8 | 26.2 | 5.0 | 3.1 | 5.7 | 12.9 | 17.9 | 25.9 | 21.3 | 23.2 | 9.2 |
| Monthly income, Indian rupees (median)b | 2500 | 4000 | 5000 | 7000 | 6000 | 2000 | 6000 | 5000 | 6000 | 4500 | 6000 | 6000 | 6000 | 5000 | 5000 |
| Marital status (%) | |||||||||||||||
| Unmarriedc | 73.0 | 58.7 | 40.5 | 58.9 | 43.8 | 82.3 | 44.3 | 69.4 | 65.4 | 52.2 | 53.0 | 62.7 | 40.1 | 43.1 | 58.6 |
| Currently married or living with partner | 27.0 | 41.3 | 59.5 | 41.1 | 56.2 | 17.8 | 55.7 | 30.6 | 34.6 | 47.8 | 47.0 | 37.4 | 59.9 | 56.9 | 41.4 |
| Age at first injection, years (median) | 18 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 21 | 18 | 25 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 23 | 21 | 26 |
| Injection in past 6 months (%) | 92.0 | 98.5 | 68.6 | 83.2 | 98.2 | 91.6 | 88.2 | 97.4 | 89.3 | 87.3 | 83.0 | 80.3 | 91.1 | 95.7 | 99.1 |
| Drugs injected in past 6 months (%) | |||||||||||||||
| Heroin | 57.2 | 97.0 | 23.7 | 11.1 | 98.2 | 2.5 | 87.7 | 45.2 | 88.5 | 35.1 | 3.2 | 4.6 | 19.8 | 0.6 | 14.9 |
| Buprenorphine | 0.1 | 1.2 | 2.5 | 3.9 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0 | 75.7 | 0.6 | 64.6 | 60.0 | 71.5 | 7.2 | 89.9 | 67.2 |
| Cocaine | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 | 0 | 1.9 | 0 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Stimulants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.6 | 0 | 0 | 0.7 | 0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Sedatives/anti-anxiety | 1.9 | 0.6 | 23.6 | 23.5 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 20.3 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 9.6 | 17.1 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 3.8 |
| Other pharmaceutical opioidsd | 47.8 | 5.7 | 62.9 | 82.7 | 1.4 | 88.7 | 0.2 | 7.7 | 0.7 | 6.9 | 10.5 | 3.3 | 39.8 | 0.9 | 43.4 |
| Needle or syringe sharing (%) | |||||||||||||||
| Ever | 72.8 | 62.8 | 36.3 | 56.8 | 80.4 | 52.9 | 37.2 | 37.5 | 37.0 | 49.0 | 38.4 | 24.5 | 31.0 | 19.9 | 72.1 |
| Past 6 months | 46.7 | 52.8 | 20.2 | 36.8 | 71.0 | 30.6 | 31.3 | 32.3 | 31.6 | 40.0 | 29.5 | 19.7 | 25.6 | 16.4 | 69.1 |
| Last time injected | 29.6 | 9.3 | 28.6 | 41.6 | 61.2 | 5.3 | 35.8 | 10.8 | 34.9 | 42.3 | 15.0 | 20.1 | 19.1 | 3.0 | 38.1 |
| Alcohol usee (%) | |||||||||||||||
| None/non-hazardous use | 54.5 | 54.2 | 33.2 | 71.0 | 77.5 | 72.0 | 80.8 | 50.7 | 88.5 | 52.5 | 44.5 | 77.8 | 35.8 | 44.9 | 72.6 |
| Hazardous use | 17.8 | 22.8 | 15.8 | 12.5 | 13.0 | 18.4 | 13.2 | 23.9 | 5.5 | 18.6 | 16.4 | 10.6 | 26.3 | 34.5 | 15.8 |
| Dependence | 27.7 | 23.0 | 51.0 | 16.5 | 9.4 | 9.6 | 6.0 | 25.5 | 6.0 | 28.9 | 39.1 | 11.5 | 37.9 | 20.6 | 11.6 |
| Ever sex with a man, male or transgender only (%) | 3.5 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 12.3 | 7.4 | 11.7 | 12.8 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 4.1 | 8.3 |
| Unprotected heterosexual sex in the past 6 months (%) | 57.9 | 35.8 | 55.8 | 54.1 | 40.5 | 36.3 | 49.2 | 26.7 | 24.2 | 51.8 | 37.6 | 36.9 | 63.1 | 62.8 | 33.6 |
| History of HIV testing | |||||||||||||||
| Ever | 71.4 | 44.9 | 52.3 | 34.3 | 58.6 | 51.1 | 57.0 | 29.2 | 61.5 | 57.2 | 40.4 | 40.8 | 82.3 | 24.3 | 7.9 |
| In past 12 monthsf | 42.7 | 20.0 | 31.7 | 12.7 | 16.8 | 29.3 | 32.6 | 22.5 | 38.7 | 44.2 | 30.2 | 28.4 | 76.3 | 17.6 | 4.4 |
| Use needle exchange program | |||||||||||||||
| Ever | 53.0 | 44.5 | 13.4 | 36.3 | 28.0 | 36.1 | 52.9 | 42.1 | 73.8 | 38.9 | 23.7 | 59.2 | 44.2 | 7.7 | 6.8 |
| Past 6 months | 36.2 | 42.1 | 7.6 | 19.9 | 15.1 | 31.0 | 50.5 | 40.4 | 67.8 | 33.8 | 17.7 | 52.8 | 39.6 | 7.2 | 6.3 |
| Use opioid substitution program | |||||||||||||||
| Ever | 23.7 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 6.5 | 33.0 | 6.4 | 12.8 | 27.0 | 48.7 | 43.3 | 23.6 | 18.9 | 25.1 | 0 | 6.4 |
| Past 6 months | 15.9 | 5.1 | 6.9 | 2.2 | 15.3 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 22.1 | 39.8 | 36.8 | 15.5 | 16.4 | 23.3 | 0 | 1.6 |
| Ever incarcerated (%) | 70.2 | 46.1 | 55.4 | 34.6 | 51.9 | 54.2 | 48.8 | 29.2 | 84.5 | 54.7 | 43.6 | 28.4 | 90.0 | 31.9 | 19.7 |
| HIV Prevalence (%) | 25.4 | 22.4 | 21.8 | 11.2 | 31.1 | 11.5 | 44.9 | 13.8 | 8.6 | 21.1 | 10.6 | 18.1 | 5.9 | 8.9 | 30.8 |
| HIV annual incidenceg (%) | 1.0 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 3.4 | 5.6 | 0.8 | 4.9 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 0 | 4.0 | 12.4 |
AIZ – Aizawl, CCP – Churachandpur, DIM – Dimapur, GTK – Gangtok, IMP – Imphal, LGL – Lunglei, MOR – Moreh, DEL – New Delhi, MUM – Mumbai, AMR – Amritsar, CDH – Chandigarh, LUD - Ludhiana, BBE – Bhubaneshwar, BIL – Bilaspur, KAN – Kanpur
a
Estimates weighted with the Volz-Heckathorn method (20).
b
Conversion rate for Indian rupee to US dollar approximately 60:1.
c
Unmarried includes those never married, not living with long-term partners, widowed, divorced, and separated.
d
Pharmaceutical opioids include morphine, pentazocine, and propoxyphene.
e
Hazardous use defined by score ≥ 8 on Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) and dependence defined by AUDIT score ≥ 15 (17).
f
Among subjects not self-reporting HIV-positive status.
g
See text for methods.