A comparative study of characteristics and risky behaviors among the Iranian opium and opium dross addicts.

BACKGROUND

Iran ranks first per capita in the use of opiates, but we have little information about possible differences regarding the 2 most commonly used illicit drugs, namely opium and its dross (residue).

DESIGN

This is a cross-sectional study.

SETTING

A cross-sectional study about drug abuse and drug dependence in Iran was conducted from April 2006 to August 2008 in the prisons of 28 Iranian provinces, in the treatment centers, and in the streets.

PARTICIPANTS

To pursue the objectives of this research, participants included 2979 opiate addicts including opium users (n = 2636) and dross users (n = 343), who were not significantly different by gender (P = 0.269) or age (P = 0.452).

MEASUREMENTS

An anonymous questionnaire was completed through an interview that gathered sociodemographic characteristics and information about some high-risk behaviors.

RESULT

: By the end of the study, we concluded that dross addicts, in comparison with opium addicts, were mostly immigrants from rural areas to urban areas (P = 0.031 χ test, 95% confidence interval [CI]), mostly uneducated, illiterate, or semiliterate (P = 0.04 χ test, 95% CI), had illegal occupations (P = 0.048 χ test, 95% CI), were cigarette smokers (P < 0.000 χ test, 95% CI), and had experienced drug injections (P = 0.032 χ test, 95% CI) and drug overdose (P = 0.007 χ test, 95% CI). They also had a history of hospital admission within the preceding year because of drug overdose (P < 0.000) and a record of being arrested and jailed in the past year (P = 0.028 χ test, 95% CI).

CONCLUSION

These results indicated the need for more intensive and effective care for the opioid addicts in Iran.