title: Assessing Syringe Exchange Program Access among Persons Who Inject Drugs (PWID) in the District of Columbia.
abstract: Prior research has explored spatial access to syringe exchange programs (SEPs) among persons who inject drugs (PWID), but these studies have been based on limited data from short periods of time. No research has explored changes in spatial access to SEPs among PWID longitudinally. The purpose of this research is to examine spatial access to SEPs among PWID who accessed services at a SEP in Washington, District of Columbia (DC), from 1996 to 2010. The geometric point distance estimation technique was used to calculate the mean walking distance PWID traveled from the centroid point of their zip code of home residence to the mobile exchange site where they accessed SEP services. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine differences in walking distance measures by year. The results of this research suggest that the distance DC PWID traveled to access SEP services remained relatively constant (approximately 2.75 mi) from 2003 to 2008, but increased to just over 4 mi in 2010. This research provides support for expanding SEP operations such that PWID have increased access to their services. Increasing SEP accessibility may help resolve unmet needs among injectors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Prevention & Community Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave Suite 300, Washington, DC, 20052, USA. sallen63@jhu.edu.|Johns Hopkins University, 615 N. Wolfe St., Room E6534, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA. sallen63@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Sean T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.affiliation: Department of Prevention & Community Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave Suite 300, Washington, DC, 20052, USA.
authors.forename: Monica S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy & Management, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University, PO Box 8015, Statesboro, GA, 30460, USA.
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D004219:District of Columbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D055030:Drug Users / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D040261:Harm Reduction; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018671:Needle-Exchange Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D062206:Spatial Analysis; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D014504:Urban Health; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: Access; HIV; Persons who inject drugs; Substance use; Syringe exchange programs