Adoption of injection practices in heroin users in Guangxi Province, China

This preliminary study collected data from 326 heroin users in Guangxi Prov ince, China, in 1997. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identif y the risk factors for injection. Survival analysis identified factors inde pendently associated with time from initiation of heroin use to adoption of injection. Four factors were independently associated with injection: numb er of friends who used heroin in the last year, duration of heroin use, dos e of heroin consumed, and total number of times detoxified in drug treatmen t and rehabilitation centers. Only gender and duration of heroin use were i ndependently associated with time to first injection. Median time to first injection was 11 months for males and 22 months for females. Median time to first injection varied by age. Median time to injection for those who used heroin for more than one year was 8.1 months; it was 19.1 months for on to five years of use, and 40.5 months for more than five years of use. This s tudy's preliminary findings suggest that younger, more recent heroin users, and males are at increased risk of becoming injectors, a major risk behavi or for HIV acquisition.