title: Feasibility of applying the life history calendar in a population of chronic opioid users to identify patterns of drug use and addiction treatment.
abstract: Uncovering patterns of drug use and treatment access is essential to improving treatment for opioid dependence. The life history calendar (LHC) could be a valuable instrument for capturing time-sensitive data on lifetime patterns of drug use and addiction treatment. This study describes the methodology applied when collecting data using the LHC in a sample of individuals with long-term opioid dependence and aims to identify specific factors that impact the feasibility of administering the LHC interview. In this study, the LHC allowed important events such as births, intimate relationships, housing, or incarcerations to become reference points for recalling details surrounding drug use and treatment access. The paper concludes that the administration of the LHC was a resource-intensive process and required special attention to interviewer training and experience with the study population. These factors should be considered and integrated into study plans by researchers using the LHC in addiction research.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, Providence Health Care, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada. ; School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fikowski
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, Providence Health Care, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada. ; School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Marchand
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, Providence Health Care, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada. ; School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Palis
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, Providence Health Care, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada. ; School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oviedo-Joekes
keywords: addiction research methodology; life history calendar; opioid dependency