Hepatitis B virus among adolescents with substance use disorder: Prevalence, risks, vaccinization [Madde kullanim bozuklugu olan ergenlerde HBV: Yayginlik, riskler, aşilama]

Objective: Drug abuse and sexual intercourse have been reported to have equal level of effects on hepatitis B virus (HBV) contamination. Drug abuse prevalence increases in adolescence period in Turkey. The aim of present study was to determine the prevalence of HBV infection and risk factors among adolescent drug users, an important health problem in our country. Methods: In the study, the medical records of the patients who were hospitalized between October 2004 and November 2007 at the inpatient service of Ege University Child and Adolescent Addiction Investigation and Practice Center (EGEBAM) were evaluated. From a total of 206 patients hospitalized within this period, 188 patients whose serological results were available, were reviewed in terms of socio-demographic features (n=188), clinical properties (n=188) and risk factors (n=41). For the comparison of categorical variables chi-square test and for the risk assessment logistic regression analysis was used. Results: All of the 188 subjects recruited in the study were male and the mean age of the sample was 16.4±1.4 years. 69.1% (n=130) of the subjects were using cannabis, 56.4% (n=106) were using inhalants, 46.8% (n=88) were using ecstasy, and 42.6% (n=80) were using alcohol. Forty-five patients (23.9%) had been exposed with the virus. Among these subjects, 14.9% (n=28) of them have been exposed to the virus via immunization while 9% of the cases have been exposed to the virus via viral infection. Anti-HBc positivity was negatively correlated with education status of the mother (p=0.005) and the father (p=0.010) and economic levels of parents (p