Vietnam (2006): HIV/AIDS TRaC Study among Injecting Drug Users in Mong Cai, Uong Bi, and Thai Nguyen City Second Round

Tracking surveys serve as tools to inform programming by routinely collecting data from cross-sections of populations at risk for HIV/AIDS and other adverse health outcomes. This survey among injecting drug users (IDUs)aimed to: 1) identify and describe segments of the population in terms of needle-sharing in the three months prior to the survey; 2) explore injecting practices, sexual behaviors and condom use of IDUs; 3) monitor trends in condom use, injecting behaviors, and use of VCT services by IDUs; 4) determine whether exposure to PSI program activities is associated with changes in key indicators; and 5) apply study findings to interventions designed for reducing the risk of HIV transmission among IDUs. Respondent-Driven Sampling (RDS) was used to recruit 398 male IDUs aged 15 to 45 who live in Uong Bi and Mong Cai towns in Quang Ninh province and Thai Nguyen City in Thai Nguyen province. All IDUs refered for an interview were screened for eligibility and to prevent duplicate participation. The questionnaire collected information on socio-demographic characteristics, drug use and needle-sharing behaviors, opinions about needlesharing practices, beliefs and knowledge about HIV, sexual activity and condom use, and exposure to harm reduction services. In addition, a section on voluntary counseling and testing for HIV (VCT) was added to the questionnaire for the second round of the tracking survey. Multivariate analyses were performed t o identify significant factors associated with needlesharing, condom use, and use of VCT services. For project monitoring, analysis of variance (UNIANOVA) was conducted to generate adjusted proportions and means for key project indicators by survey round and to identify significant changes in behaviors and behavioral determinants. To evaluate the effet of exposure to PSI's outreach activities, indicators that were significant on the monitoring table were tested with UNIANOVAs to identify differences in indicators by degree of exposure to PSI's outreach activities.