Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #114702

C. Amalia Marrero, MPH¹, Rafaela R. Robles, EdD¹, Juan C. Reyes, EdD¹, Tomás D. Matos, MS¹, Hector M. Colon, PhD², Juan Negrón, MPH, PhDc³, and José M. Calderón, MS⁴. (1) Center for Addiction Studies, School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, PO Box 60327, Bayamón, PR 00960-6032, 787-288-0200, amarrero@uccaribe.edu, (2) Center for Addiction Studies, Universidad Central del Caribe, PO Box 60327, Bayamon, PR 00960-6032, (3) Center for Addiction Studies, Universidad Central del Caribe, School of Medicine, Call Box 60327, Bayamón, PR 00960-3062, (4) Center for Addiction Studies, Universidad Central del Caribe, P.O. Box 60327, Bayamón, 00960-6032

This study aimed to identify the effect of hepatitis C-associated knowledge on injection and sexual risk behaviors among a cohort of street-recruited injection drug users (IDUs). Participants underwent a structured interview at twelve-month intervals, HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody testing, pretest and posttest counseling. The counseling sessions focused on how to prevent hepatitis infection, risk reduction, how to recognize hepatitis symptoms, alcohol consumption and disease progression. IDUs who reported at baseline that did not know their HCV status were reassessed at 12-months to detect possible behavioral changes after disclosure of their HCV status and hepatitis counseling. HCV-associated knowledge was assessed using a sixteen-item instrument based on CDC information. The prevalence of HCV infection at baseline was 78.2%. Of 212 IDUs that were reassessed at follow-up, 58% showed a high level of HCV-associated knowledge. After adjusting for sociodemographics, HIV status, depression symptoms, drug treatment experience and the corresponding behavior at baseline, IDUs did not show significant reductions in injection or sex risk behavior after disclosure of a positive HCV test result. Conversely, multivariate analyses results showed that those with a high level of HCV-associated knowledge were significantly more likely to reduce injection risk behaviors such as sharing the cooker, sharing rinse water and backloading during drug preparation. None of the tests showed a significant association between hepatitis knowledge and sex risk behaviors. Exposure to hepatitis information is crucial in the process of HCV status disclosure in order to effectively prevent the transmission of HCV infection and other blood-borne diseases.

Learning Objectives:

• 1)To evaluate the level of HCV-associated knowledge among IDUs using a 16-item instrument.
• 2)To recognize the relevance of integrating an educational component to the HCV testing process.
• 3)To identify which injection risk behaviors are effectively reduced after the exposure to hepatitis information.

Keywords: Injection Drug Users, Hepatitis C

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.