Research Article
Behavioural Risk for HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C Infections among a Population of Drug Users and Injectors across Four Regions in Ghana
Table 4
Unweighted and weighted characteristics of respondents by variable type according to people who inject drugs.
| | | Unweighted | Weighted | | n (%) | n (%) |
| | Factor | 52 | 52 |
| | Source of needles/syringes in the last 6 months | | | | Pharmacy/chemist/drug store/store/another store | 29 (61.7) | 27 (57.4) | | Market place or street vendor | 2 (4.3) | 1 (2.7) | | Pharmacy worker or drug vendor | 8 (17.0) | 10 (20.7) | | Sex partner, friend, acquaintance, relative | 3 (6.4) | 2 (5.3) | | Drug dealer or other drug users | 4 (8.5) | 4 (9.0) | | Don’t know | 1 (2.1) | 2 (4.9) |
| | Sterile needles and syringes available when needed | | | | Yes | 44 (86.3) | 41 (80.6) | | No | 5 (9.8) | 5 (10.8) | | Don’t know | 2 (3.9) | 4 (8.7) |
| | Pays for the needles | | | | Yes | 44 (88.0) | 46 (92.4) | | No | 6 (12.0) | 4 (7.6) |
| | Pay to be injected | | | | Yes | 16 (31.4) | 18 (35.5) | | No | 35 (68.6) | 33 (64.5) |
| | How often is a new sterile needle used in the last 6 months | | | | Never | 2 (3.9) | 2 (3.8) | | Rarely | 5 (9.8) | 5 (9.0) | | Half of the time | 6 (11.8) | 6 (12.0) | | Most of the time | 9 (17.7) | 7 (14.7) | | Always | 29 (56.9) | 31 (60.5) |
| | Reasons for not using a new needle or syringe always | | | | Not available | 2 (9.1) | 2 (8.9) | | Difficult to find | 6 (27.3) | 6 (26.9) | | Expensive | 7 (31.8) | 7 (30.0) | | Peer pressured to share | 3 (13.6) | 5 (20.9) | | I reuse my own needle | 4 (18.2) | 3 (13.4) |
| | When you inject, do you do it: alone, or with a friend, drugs dealer, assistant drug dealer | | | | Alone | 25 (49.0) | 27 (52.5) | | A friend | 19 (37.3) | 18 (35.1) | | Drugs dealer | 5 (9.8) | 4 (8.5) | | Assistant drug dealer | 1 (2.0) | 1 (1.3) | | Don’t know | 1 (2.0) | 1 (2.6) |
| | In the last 6 months, how often did you use needles that someone else had already injected with | | | | Never | 38 (74.5) | 34 (67.4) | | Rarely | 2 (3.9) | 3 (6.5) | | Half of the time | 6 (11.8) | 6 (12.7) | | Most of the time | 3 (5.9) | 4 (7.8) | | Always | 6 (11.7) | 1 (1.3) | | Don’t know | 1 (2.0) | 2 (4.3) |
| | Shared needle with other person in the past 6 months | | | | Not shared | 26 (57.8) | 23 (52.2) | | Shared | 13 (28.9) | 14 (31.6) | | Refused to answer | 6 (13.3) | 7 (16.2) |
| | Shared an instrument with another person in the past 6 months | | | | Not shared | 24 (54.6) | 22 (50.0) | | Shared | 20 (45.5) | 22 (50.0) |
| | Venue or location drug is commonly injected | | | | Own house | 13 (26.5) | 15 (30.6) | | House of someone else | 3 (6.1) | 4 (7.3) | | House of dealer | 3 (6.1) | 3 (6.2) | | Abandoned building | 2 (4.1) | 2 (4.3) | | Street (ghetto) | 24 (49.0) | 23 (46.2) | | Other places | 4 (8.2) | 3 (5.5) |
| | How often are needle/syringe reused before thrown out | | | | Very often | 13 (25.5) | 12 (23.9) | | Often | 7 (13.7) | 8 (15.0) | | Not so often | 13 (25.5) | 15 (29.9) | | Never | 18 (35.3) | 16 (31.3) |
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