The objective of the present paper is to identify risk factors for HIV infection among injecting drug users in the City of Rio de Janeiro. A survey was carried out with volunteers selected from (drug use) treatment centers and from street based drug users of the city. Three questionnaires were used: the first one addressed information on general aspects of the population of injecting drug users; the second one asked for additional information on HIV-related knowledge and behavior; and a third one was designed to assess psychological dysfunction. The sample consisted of 110 respondents, who volunteered for HIV-infection and other blood-borne pathogens (HBV, HCV, HDV, HGV/GBV-C, HTLV-I/II) laboratory testing. In the sample, HIV-1 point seroprevalence was 28.7%. A logistic regression model (Hosmer-Lemeshow statistics, c² = 1.89; p=0.98) identified the following variables as risk factors for HIV infection: "low-income residence" (OR=5.57; 95% CI: [1.39 - 22.27]), "uncertain income sources" (OR=3.26; 95% CI: [1.01 - 10.51]), "early onset of drug consumption" (OR=2.50; 90% CI: [0.99 - 6.28]), "recruitment from street based drug users" (OR=7.91; 95% CI: [2.03 - 30.87]), and "high frequency of needle-sharing during the prior 6 months" (OR=4.41; 95% CI: [1.33 - 14.64]).
HIV-infections; Risk factors; Substance abuse, intravenous; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
