Demographic background and dangerous behaviors of heroin-addicted patients under maintenance treatment in the North East of Iran (North Khorasan province). (4th March 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rezaei, Mahdi; Hatami, Seyed Esmaeil; Hojjat, Seyed Kaveh; Rahimi, Ahmad; Ein Beigi, Elahe
• Is Part Of: Journal of substance use. Volume 23:Number 2(2018)
• Page Start: 181
• Page End: 186
• Publication Date: 2018-03-04
• Subjects: Dangerous behaviors -- heroin -- opiate substitution treatment -- methadone -- Iran; Substance abuse -- Periodicals; Medication abuse -- Periodicals; 362.2905
• DOI: 10.1080/14659891.2017.1378740
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1465-9891

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Background: In recent years, Iran has experienced an increase in heroin consumption, which endangers the health of individuals as well as the whole society. The present research investigated the demographic indices and dangerous behavior of heroin-addicted patients under maintenance treatment. Methods: This study was conducted as a cross-sectional study in 2015. The sample of this research includes the heroin-addicted patients under treatment in 79 maintenance treatment centers in North Khorasan. The information is gathered by a checklist of dangerous behaviors and demographic indices of the patients. Results: In this study, 842 heroin consumers under maintenance treatment were investigated, 82.4% of whom were male and 17.6% were female. Heroin-addicted patients showed a significant difference in terms of marital status, occupation, addiction initiation, and dangerous behaviors (such as unsafe sexual intercourse, the history of concurrency injection and unsafe sexual intercourse) in two gender groups. Conclusion: It seems that there is a significant difference between male and female heroin-addicts in dangerous behaviors and demographic indices. As such, there is a significant difference between demographic pattern and dangerous behaviors of heroin-addicted patients in Iran and patients from other countries.