Table 2.
Socio-demographic, network, injecting drug use and sexual behaviour characteristics as well as access to prevention and treatment of 3320 PWIDs participating in ARISTOTLE, overall and according to gender (based on their first visit to the programme).
| Total (n = 3320) | Male (n = 2806) | Female (n = 513) | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Socio-demographic characteristics | ||||
| Age (years), mean (SD) | 35.8 (8.3) | 36.1 (8.3) | 34.3 (8.3) | < 0.001 |
| Country of origin, n (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| Greece | 2793 (84.1) | 2327 (82.9) | 465 (90.6) | |
| Afghanistan/Iran | 130 (3.9) | 130 (4.6) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Middle East (other) | 100 (3.0) | 100 (3.6) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Balkans and eastern Europe | 178 (5.4) | 140 (5.0) | 38 (7.4) | |
| Africa | 97 (2.9) | 93 (3.3) | 4 (0.8) | |
| Other | 22 (0.7) | 16 (0.6) | 6 (1.2) | |
| Highest completed level of education, n (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| Primary school or below | 907 (27.6) | 811 (29.2) | 96 (18.8) | |
| Middle/secondary school | 1004 (30.5) | 871 (31.4) | 133 (26.0) | |
| High school | 972 (29.6) | 799 (28.8) | 173 (33.8) | |
| University or equivalent | 405 (12.3) | 294 (10.6) | 110 (21.5) | |
| Homeless,a n (%) | 0.073 | |||
| No | 2183 (65.9) | 1862 (66.6) | 320 (62.4) | |
| Yes (not currently) | 364 (11.0) | 294 (10.5) | 70 (13.7) | |
| Yes (currently) | 765 (23.1) | 642 (22.9) | 123 (24.0) | |
| Currently health insurance, n (%) yes | 1185 (35.9) | 979 (35.1) | 206 (40.4) | 0.021 |
| Employment status, n (%) | 0.003 | |||
| Employed full-time, part-time | 403 (12.2) | 362 (13.0) | 41 (8.0) | |
| Unable to work for health reasons, unemployed | 2860 (86.6) | 2397 (85.9) | 463 (90.3) | |
| Student, retired, other | 39 (1.2) | 30 (1.1) | 9 (1.8) | |
| History of imprisonment (ever), n (%) yes | 1613 (48.8) | 1413 (50.6) | 200 (39.1) | < 0.001 |
| B. Network | ||||
| Size of participant’s network, n (%) | 0.338 | |||
| 1–10 | 898 (27.3) | 750 (26.9) | 148 (29.3) | |
| 11–30 | 1104 (33.6) | 930 (33.4) | 174 (34.4) | |
| >30 | 1289 (39.2) | 1105 (39.7) | 184 (36.4) | |
| C. Injecting drug use behaviour | ||||
| Main substance of use, n (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| Heroin/Thai | 2700 (81.9) | 2318 (83.2) | 381 (74.7) | |
| Cocaine | 462 (14.0) | 361 (13.0) | 101 (19.8) | |
| Buprenorphine (non-prescribed) | 25 (0.8) | 23 (0.8) | 2 (0.4) | |
| Sisha, methamphetamine | 17 (0.5) | 16 (0.6) | 1 (0.2) | |
| Speedball | 92 (2.8) | 67 (2.4) | 25 (4.9) | |
| Injecting drug use in the past month, n (%) yes | 2689 (81.2) | 2281 (81.6) | 407 (79.3) | 0.232 |
| Duration of injecting drug use (years), median (25th, 75th) | 12 (6, 18) | 13 (6, 19) | 11 (6, 17) | 0.005 |
| Frequency of injecting drug use,a n (%) | 0.005 | |||
| More than once per day | 1013 (30.6) | 877 (31.3) | 136 (26.5) | |
| Once per day | 247 (7.5) | 218 (7.8) | 29 (5.7) | |
| At least once per week | 763 (23.0) | 641 (22.9) | 121 (23.6) | |
| At least once per month | 489 (14.8) | 416 (14.9) | 73 (14.2) | |
| Less than once per month | 801 (24.2) | 647 (23.1) | 154 (30.0) | |
| Sharing syringes,a n (%) | 0.356 | |||
| Never | 1805 (59.7) | 1536 (60.2) | 268 (56.9) | |
| Rarely | 968 (32.0) | 815 (31.9) | 153 (32.5) | |
| About half the time | 138 (4.6) | 110 (4.3) | 28 (5.9) | |
| Most of the time | 87 (2.9) | 70 (2.7) | 17 (3.6) | |
| Always | 26 (0.8) | 21 (0.8) | 5 (1.1) | |
| Use drugs divided with a syringe that someone else had already injected with,a n (%) | 0.166 | |||
| Never | 2192 (66.6) | 1867 (67.1) | 324 (63.7) | |
| Rarely | 838 (25.4) | 691 (24.8) | 147 (28.9) | |
| About half the time | 155 (4.7) | 136 (4.9) | 19 (3.7) | |
| Most of the time, always | 109 (3.3) | 90 (3.2) | 19 (3.7) | |
| D. Sexual behaviour | ||||
| Same-sex contacts,a n (%) yes | 54 (2.0) | 37 (7.4) | < 0.001 | |
| Received money/drugs in exchange for sex (any partner),a,b n (%) yes | 118 (5.3) | 120 (27.1) | < 0.001 | |
| Last partner PWID (any partner),a,b n (%) definitely/probably not PWID | 1191 (55.5) | 131 (29.6) | < 0.001 | |
| E. Access to testing, treatment and prevention | ||||
| Ever participated in a drug treatment programme, n (%) yes | 2190 (66.2) | 1808 (64.7) | 381 (74.6) | < 0.001 |
| Participated in an opioid substitution programme, n (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| Yes, currently | 409 (12.5) | 325 (11.8) | 84 (16.7) | |
| Yes, in the past | 440 (13.5) | 332 (12.0) | 108 (21.4) | |
| Never | 2422 (74.0) | 2110 (87.1) | 312 (61.9) | |
| Received syringes through prevention activities,a n (%) yes | 1675 (50.6) | 1384 (49.5) | 291 (56.7) | 0.003 |
| Ever tested for HIV, n (%) yes | 2154 (65.4) | 1758 (63.2) | 395 (77.5) | < 0.001 |
a
In the past 12 months.
b
For those reporting at least one sexual partner within the past 12 months. PWID = people who inject drugs; SD = standard deviation.