Conference abstract
Factors associated with tuberculosis among injection drug users in Ukraine based on the results of 2004 behavioral survey
Olga Khryshchuk, Tatiana Andreeva
BACKGROUND. Because of high prevalence rates of tuberculosis (TB) in Ukraine, it is especially important to identify risk factors related to this disease among high-risk groups, particularly among the injection drug users (IDUs).
METHODS. The analysis was conducted based on the data of the cross-sectional survey held among the IDUs in 2004. The general sample included 3542 respondents. Hospitalization to the TB dispensary was considered as a dependent variable. For the bivariate analysis, Pearson’s χ-square test was used, after which independent variables associated with the outcome measure were included in the further analysis. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was used to explore associations.
RESULTS. In the studied sample, 82 cases (2,3%) reported hospitalization to the TB dispensary. In the multivariate analysis, only three groups of variables had significant associations: TB among the acquaintances, positive HIV status, and risky behavior (including sharing syringes, purchasing drugs in syringes, as well as from dealers in preloaded syringes, using human blood without boiling it during the drugs preparing). After the stratification by HIV-status, it was found that among the HIV-negative respondents the presence of TB-patients among the acquaintances increased the odds of hospitalizing to the TB dispensary by 10 times, while for HIV-positive just by 5 times.
CONCLUSIONS. Our analysis revealed that positive HIV status is the mediator between the risky behavior and acquiring tuberculosis. However, it is also educed that some variables which represent the risky behaviors remained significantly associated even in presence of the mediator in the model; hence, risk behavior can be considered an independent predictor for getting TB. Besides, getting TB was related to having TB-patients among the acquaintances: this was the main factor of getting TB for the HIV-negative respondents, while the HIV-status was essential for the HIV-positive ones.
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