Hiv-Related Risk Behaviors Among Male Inmates of Tehran, Iran Publisher



Seyedalinaghi S^{1, 2} ; Farhoudi B³ ; Ghodrati S⁴ ; Hosseini M⁵ ; Mohraz M¹ ; Alasvand R⁶ Show Affiliations
Source: Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease Published:2016

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the frequencies and types of HIV-related risk behavior among inmates of Tehran, Iran. Methods: We used active case finding to assess the prevalence of HIV high risk behaviors. The research was conducted on male prisoners in the Great Tehran Prison from October 2013 to May 2014. Results: Two thousand and fifty (19.5%) from 10 492 prisoners who were admitted to quarantine of the prison participated in HIV testing and counseling. Of 2 050 inmates, our results showed that sexual encounters were the most prevalent risky behavior (89.6%) reported by the prisoners, followed by tattooing (34.7%) and injection drug use (24.2%). Conclusions: Although the previous studies reported that the main leading cause of acquiring HIV infection in Iranian prisons was injecting drug use, the prevalence of injecting drug use was less than the prevalence of unsafe sexual relationships and tattooing in the present research among the inmates of Tehran. © 2016 Asian Pacific Tropical Medicine Press.