Greek Organisation Against Drugs (OKANA), Athens, Greece.
Greek Reitox Focal Point of the EMCDDA, Athens University Mental Health Research Institute (UMHRI), Athens, Greece.
HIV Med. 2018 Feb;19 Suppl 1:34-39. doi: 10.1111/hiv.12589.
People who inject drugs (PWID) represent the main risk group for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in most middle and high-income countries. Testing PWID is considered as an important prevention measure. Identification of PWID characteristics associated with HCV testing may contribute to strategies targeting the containment of the HCV and HIV epidemics in Greece.
Anonymous behavioural data from 2747 heroin users were collected upon entry in 38 opioid substitution treatment (OST) clinics in Greece during the period 2013-2015. HCV test uptake was the dependent variable while covariates included sociodemographic and addiction-related variables, mostly derived from the EMCDDA treatment demand indicator protocol.
Among 2299 cases with complete data on HCV testing, 83.5% reported any HCV testing uptake, with 61.2% reporting a recent test (< 12 months). In the multivariate analyses, any previous HCV testing uptake was associated with age ≥ 25 years, past drug treatment attempt, injecting or sniffing the primary substance, injection history ≥ 5 years, and syringe sharing earlier than the past 12 months. Past HCV test uptake was higher among those reporting full-time employment and 2-4 years injecting histories, and lower among residents of Athens. Recent testing was positively associated with female gender and polysubstance use.
Any previous HCV testing uptake is high among PWID entering OST in Greece and is associated with older age, longer injecting histories and past drug-related treatment attempts. Efforts to prevent and mitigate the ongoing HCV test epidemic among PWID in Greece should combine treatment with scaling up of screening, targeting especially those younger than 25 years and at the beginning of their hazardous use.
在大多数中高收入国家，注射吸毒者（PWID）是丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）感染的主要风险群体。对 PWID 进行检测被认为是一项重要的预防措施。确定与 HCV 检测相关的 PWID 特征，可能有助于制定针对希腊 HCV 和 HIV 流行的控制策略。
2013 年至 2015 年期间，在希腊的 38 个阿片类药物替代治疗（OST）诊所，对 2747 名海洛因使用者进行了匿名行为数据收集。HCV 检测采用率为因变量，协变量包括社会人口统计学和成瘾相关变量，主要来源于欧洲毒品和毒瘾监测中心（EMCDDA）的治疗需求指标协议。
在 2299 例有完整 HCV 检测数据的病例中，83.5%报告了任何 HCV 检测采用率，其中 61.2%报告了最近一次检测（<12 个月）。在多变量分析中，以往 HCV 检测采用率与年龄≥25 岁、过去药物治疗尝试、注射或嗅吸主要物质、≥5 年的注射史以及过去 12 个月内更早的注射器共享有关。报告全职工作和 2-4 年注射史的人过去 HCV 检测采用率更高，而雅典居民的检测采用率较低。最近的检测与女性性别和多药物使用呈正相关。
在希腊接受 OST 的 PWID 中，任何以往的 HCV 检测采用率都很高，且与年龄较大、较长的注射史和过去的药物相关治疗尝试有关。为了防止和减轻希腊 PWID 中持续的 HCV 检测流行，应将治疗与扩大筛查相结合，特别针对 25 岁以下和开始危险使用的人群。
