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Public injecting and HIV risk behaviour among street-involved youth
- Source :
- Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 110:254-258
- Publication Year :
- 2010
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2010.
-
Abstract
- Background Although street-involved youth who inject illicit drugs are known to be at an increased risk of HIV and other adverse health outcomes, little is known about public injecting among this population and how injecting in public environments may impact HIV risk behaviour. Methods We used data derived from a study of 560 street-involved youth in Vancouver, Canada to examine the factors associated with injecting in public environments among youth who reported injecting drugs in the past 6 months. Results At baseline, 162 (28.9%) reported injecting drugs in the past 6 months. Among injectors, the 124 (76.5%) participants who reported injecting in public were more likely to be homeless (odds ratio [OR] = 6.39, p p = 0.004), deal drugs (OR = 2.26, p = 0.032), smoke crack cocaine (OR = 3.00, p = 0.005), inject heroin (OR = 3.48, p = 0.001), drop used syringes outdoors (OR = 8.44, p p = 0.004), and were less likely to clean injection sites >75% of the time (OR = 0.36, p = 0.008). The majority (62.1%) reported feeling rushed while injecting in public. Conclusions Youth who inject in public are significantly more likely to engage in sexual and injection-related risk behaviour. Given the known elevated rates of HIV infection and other harms among this population, youth-focused interventions that target both sexual and drug-related risks associated with public drug-using environments are in urgent need of evaluation.
- Subjects :
- Male
Risk
Canada
medicine.medical_specialty
Adolescent
Urban Population
Sexual Behavior
media_common.quotation_subject
Population
Psychological intervention
HIV Infections
Social Environment
Toxicology
Article
Heroin
Homeless Youth
Young Adult
Risk-Taking
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
Environmental health
Humans
Medicine
Pharmacology (medical)
Young adult
Substance Abuse, Intravenous
Psychiatry
education
media_common
Pharmacology
education.field_of_study
business.industry
Addiction
Social environment
Odds ratio
medicine.disease
Psychiatry and Mental health
Female
business
medicine.drug
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 03768716
- Volume :
- 110
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Drug and Alcohol Dependence
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....ae97c73f77a071f135b58b5cf03f380c