Substance Use among the Youth Injecting Drug Users in Urban Nepal

Abstract

This cross-sectional study was to assess the pattern of substance use and unsafe injecting drug use among the Youth IDUs in urban Nepal. Total of 377 IDUs aged 16 to 34 participated in this study. Face to face interview using semi-structured questionnaire was used. Duration of this study was 1 month and took place in 5 urban areas in Nepal. Inclusion criteria were youth injecting drug users aged 16 to 34, and those who were willing to participate in this study. Exclusion criteria were who were seriously ill. The study revealed that about 40.4% (n=55) of the total respondents (n=327) were male and 13.26% (n=50) were female. More than half of the female respondents inject from the used syringe every time or almost every time whereas majority of the male respondents never used or used sometimes. There was significant association (p-value<0.001) between gender and sharing the syringe used by others. Recommendation for this study is that according to findings, majority of the respondents had sharing practice either sometime or every time, therefore raising awareness on consequences of sharing syringe and making drop in centers accessible to every client should be considered. Review studies to identify areas that can be strengthened or scaled up will help reduce sharing practices among the female IDUs.