Objective: To know the evolution of HIV prevalence and risk behavior practices of drug injection in three spanish cities on the basis of the serologic status of injecting drug users.
Methods: Cross-sectional surveys among users in syringe interchange programmes.
Results: HIV prevalence (self-reported) decreased in Madrid from 50% (1992) down to 41% (1996) (p = 0.01) and did not change in Seville and Valencia from 1994 to 1996. Among HIV-positive injecting drug users, a decrease was observed in the practice of giving and taking used syringes in the three cities, although this decrease reached a statistically significance (p = 0.006) only for giving in Valencia from 1994 to 1996 and was almost significant (p = 0.08) for taking in Madrid from 1993 to 1996. Among HIV-negative injecting drug users, no decreases were observed in the practice of giving and taking used syringes and even a significant increase in giving syringes in Seville was recorded (p = 0.01) from 1994 to 1996.
Conclusions: HIV prevalence among injecting drug users is stabilized or decreasing in the three studied cities. The prevalence of injecting risk behavior evolves differently according to the serologic status.