Open AccessPrevalence and predictors of injecting‐related injury and disease among clients of Australia's needle and syringe programs
Author(s) -
Topp Libby,
Iversen Jenny,
Conroy Andrew,
Salmon Allison M.,
Maher Lisa
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.946
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1753-6405
pISSN - 1326-0200
DOI - 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2008.00163.x
Subject(s) - medicine , serostatus , syringe , emergency medicine , family medicine , psychiatry , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , viral load
Objective:To identify lifetime prevalence and predictors of self‐reported injecting‐related injuries and diseases (IRID) and/or injecting‐related problems (IRP) among a national cross‐sectional sample of injecting drug users.Methods:1,961 clients of 45 needle and syringe programs (NSPs) who participated in the 2006 Australian NSP Survey self‐completed an item regarding lifetime experience of eight separate IRIDs and IRPs.Results:Sixty‐nine per cent of participants reported a history of IRID/IRP, with a mean of 1.9 injuries/problems (range 0‐8). Lifetime prevalence of specific injuries/problems ranged from problems finding a vein (43%) to endocarditis (4%). Factors independently associated with IRID/IRP included bisexual identity; daily or more frequent injecting; injection of pharmaceutical preparations; female gender; longer injecting history; and hepatitis C antibody‐positive serostatus.Conclusions:Consistent with existing literature, results suggest that vascular injury and localised infections are common among IDUs; and that treatment‐seeking is often delayed until serious complications arise.Implications:Findings support the imperative for co‐ordinated and timely treatment and prevention activities to reduce the severity and burden of these prevalent injecting outcomes.