Safer injection facility use and syringe sharing in injection drug users.
Safer injection facilities provide medical supervision for illicit drug injections. We aimed to examine factors associated with syringe sharing in a community-recruited cohort of illicit injection drug users in a setting where such a facility had recently opened. Between Dec 1, 2003, and June 1, 2004, of 431 active injection drug users 49 (11.4%, 95% CI 8.5-14.3) reported syringe sharing in the past 6 months. In logistic regression analyses, use of the facility was independently associated with reduced syringe sharing (adjusted odds ratio 0.30, 0.11-0.82, p=0.02) after adjustment for relevant sociodemographic and drug-use characteristics. These findings could help inform discussions about the merits of such facilities.
Kerr
Thomas
T
British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St Paul's Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6, Canada. tkerr@cfenet.ubc.ca
Tyndall
Mark
M
Li
Kathy
K
Montaner
Julio
J
Wood
Evan
E
D017848:Blood-Borne Pathogens; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D018671:Needle-Exchange Programs; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders; D011633:Public Facilities; D012309:Risk-Taking; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous