A Retrospective Study of Young People Seeking Treatment for Injection Drug Usage at a Tertiary Care Center of North India

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Injection drug usage is a major public health issue. The study is aimed to find the clinical profile and trends of injection drug usage in young people who attended de-addiction services at a tertiary care center in North India. Methods: This retrospective record review analyzed data from consecutive young-aged people attending de-addiction services at a tertiary care hospital in North India between 2015 and 2019. The sociodemographic data and clinical and injection-related characteristics were discerned from the data. Results: Out of 135 patients included in the analysis, 132 (97.8%) were male. There was a 13-fold rise in treatment seeking over the past 5 years (2015: 7 vs. 2019: 98). One hundred and thirty-two (97.8%) were male. High Risk behavior was present such as sharing of needles in 31 (22.9%), paraphernalia sharing in 24 (17.8%), 6 (4.4%) reported ever-having symptoms of sexually transmitted infection, 13 (9.6%) had sex with sex worker, 9 (6.7%) reported ever-having HIV screening, 6 (4.4%) reported having HIV positive status. Thirty-two (23.7%) reported having previous treatment for drug abuse and 13 (9.6%) reported previously being hospitalized for drug abuse. Heroin usage has been present in 96 (71.1%) followed by pentazocine usage in 19 (14.1%). Conclusion: Our findings revealed that treatment-seeking young age population (the WHO defined age group 15–24 years) from the defined geographical location has been showing an increasing trend in injecting drug user usage along with greater injection and sexual risk behaviors associated with it. This can be used to design the public health strategy to educate regarding avoiding injection drug-related practices.