Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan, Korea.
Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Inje University College of Medicine, Inje University Busan Paik Hospital, Busan, Korea.
PLoS One. 2021 Apr 1;16(4):e0249361. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249361. eCollection 2021.
Data on illicit drug use by Korean people infected with HIV are lacking. Here, we examined the prevalence and patterns of illicit drug use among people infected with HIV in Korea.
In this cross-sectional study, we included all patients infected with HIV who visited a tertiary care hospital in Korea from January 1990 to May 2020. Sociodemographic data of patients, including drug use, were collected at the first visit and during follow-up.
Among 1,267 patients, 5.13% reported the use of an illicit drug in their lifetime, and 2.61% were users of injection drugs. The most commonly used drugs were cannabis/marijuana and methamphetamine, followed by nitrite inhalants, cocaine, dextromethorphan, carisoprodol, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine. The illicit drug users tended to be younger than non-users, homosexuals/bisexuals, and infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV); they had a higher CD4+ cell count than non-users. Among 65 users of illicit drugs, only 24.6% revealed their drug use at the first visit interview, and 24.6% reported using two or more drugs in their lifetime. Individuals who used injection drugs were more likely to be arrested for drug-related charges than the users of non-injection drugs. Moreover, they tended to be heavy users of illicit drugs, to report using two or more drugs in their lifetime, and to be HCV seropositive. In contrast, the users of non-injection drugs were more likely to be experimental users and to start using drugs overseas for the first time, but less likely to report their drug use at the first interview.
The prevalence of illicit drug use in people with HIV infection in Korea may have been underestimated. Further research based on more accurate measurements are warranted.
目前缺乏韩国 HIV 感染者滥用药物的数据。在此，我们调查了韩国 HIV 感染者中滥用药物的流行情况和模式。
在这项横断面研究中，我们纳入了 1990 年 1 月至 2020 年 5 月期间在韩国一家三级保健医院就诊的所有 HIV 感染者。在初次就诊和随访期间收集了患者的社会人口统计学数据，包括药物使用情况。
在 1267 名患者中，5.13%报告在其一生中使用过非法药物，2.61%是注射药物使用者。最常使用的药物是大麻/大麻和甲基苯丙胺，其次是亚硝酸吸入剂、可卡因、右美沙芬、卡马西平、3,4-亚甲二氧基甲基苯丙胺。非法药物使用者的年龄比非使用者小，是同性恋/双性恋者，且感染丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）；他们的 CD4+细胞计数高于非使用者。在 65 名滥用药物的个体中，只有 24.6%在初次就诊时透露了他们的药物使用情况，24.6%报告在一生中使用过两种或两种以上药物。使用注射药物的个体因与药物相关的指控被捕的可能性高于非注射药物使用者。此外，他们更有可能是药物的重度使用者，报告在一生中使用过两种或两种以上药物，且 HCV 血清阳性。相比之下，非注射药物使用者更有可能是初次使用者，且更有可能首次在海外使用药物，但不太可能在初次就诊时报告他们的药物使用情况。
韩国 HIV 感染者中滥用药物的流行率可能被低估了。需要进一步基于更准确的测量方法进行研究。
