title: High Prevalence of Assisted Injection Among Street-Involved Youth in a Canadian Setting.
abstract: Many people who inject illicit drugs receive manual assistance when injecting, and this practice has been linked to increased risk of HIV infection and other harms. Little is known, however, about this practice among youth. This study uses a multivariate generalized estimating equation to identify factors associated with receiving assistance with injecting among a cohort of street-involved youth aged 14-26 in Vancouver, Canada. A total of 253 participants reported injecting drugs during the study period, and 49 % (n = 125) of these youth reported receiving assistance with injecting in the past 6 months. In multivariate analysis, younger age, female gender, binge drug use, heroin injecting, cocaine injecting, crystal methamphetamine injecting, and syringe sharing were positively and independently associated with assisted injection (all p < 0.05). These findings underscore the need for expanding substance abuse treatment alongside HIV prevention and health promotion interventions to empower youth to enact safer injection practices.
authors.affiliation: Urban Health Research Initiative, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6, Canada.|Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada.
authors.forename: Tessa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Urban Health Research Initiative, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6, Canada.|Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.affiliation: Urban Health Research Initiative, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6, Canada.|Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada.
authors.forename: Will
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Small
authors.affiliation: Urban Health Research Initiative, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6, Canada.
authors.forename: Huiru
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Urban Health Research Initiative, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6, Canada.|Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Montaner
authors.affiliation: Urban Health Research Initiative, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6, Canada.|Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Evan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.affiliation: Urban Health Research Initiative, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6, Canada. uhri-kd@cfenet.ubc.ca.|School of Public Policy, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada. uhri-kd@cfenet.ubc.ca.
authors.forename: Kora
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: DeBeck
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D018453:Homeless Youth / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016485:Needle Sharing; D015995:Prevalence; D012309:Risk-Taking; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs
keywords: HIV risk behaviour; Injection drug use; Street-involved youth; Substance use