title: Safer injection facility use and syringe sharing in injection drug users.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tyndall
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Montaner
authors.forename: Evan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: 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