Hepatitis C related risk and protective factors among Hispanic IDU's in Miami, Florida

BACKGROUND: This study aims at identifying socio-demographic and behavioral risk and protective factors associated with hepatitis C (HCV) infection among a cohort of Hispanic intravenous drug users (IDUs) in Miami, Florida. METHODS: Data collected as part of a previous CDC-funded grant were analyzed in order to look for associations between selected socio-demographic and behavioral factors and HCV infection. Participants in the study (n=240) were all Hispanic, 18 years of age or older. Logistic regression analysis was performed on the outcome variable hepatitis C. RESULTS: The cohort was mostly male (87.5%), unemployed (85.0%), and born in the US (83.3%). Of all the participants, 75.8% were HCV positive. Univariate results show that being born outside the US was significantly negatively associated with HCV infection (OR=0.349, p=0.004). Additionally, having one or more injecting sex partner (OR=8.511, p=0.013), and having 2 or more sex partners in the past 3 months (OR=0.484, p=0.044) were significantly negatively associated with HCV infection. After adjusting for all other variables, having 1 or more injecting sex partner was significantly negatively associated with HCV infection (OR=0.372, p=0.046). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that having injecting sex partners may not be a risk factor for HCV infection. Further investigation into the dynamics of the personal networks of Hispanic IDUs and their potential protective factors is required. In addition, further investigation into the protective factors of acculturation should be researched further.