Theme: Epidemiology & Public Health Research Year: 2024
Background: Sharing injection equipment remains a significant risk for viral infection among young people who inject drugs (YPWID), but less is known about the correlates of sharing behavior in this group, relative to older PWID.
Methods: The study sample consisted of 169 YPWID who participated in a clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of an HCV-prevention intervention. Eligibility criteria included testing HIV/HCV antibody-negative and opioid-positive on point-of-care tests and reporting drug injection at least once in the six months before enrollment. This analysis focused on a subsample (n=46) who reported at least one episode of drug injection in the 3 months before each follow-up assessment (at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months). “Ever sharers” were defined as those who reported sharing any injection equipment (syringes, cookers, cotton, water containers, water, or backloading) at least once during the 12-month study period; “never sharers” never reported sharing any drug equipment during the same period. Chi-Square and t-tests were performed to examine differences between these two groups.
Results:70% reported ever sharing drug equipment during the study period. Ever-sharers were younger than non-sharers ( mean age=24.6 [SD=3.6] vs.27 years [SD=1.8];p = 0.0294) and initiated nonmedical opioid use at a younger age (mean age=17 years [SD=2.6], vs. 19.6 [SD= 2.8]; p = 0.0034). Sociodemographic factors including gender, education, employment, and homelessness did not significantly differ between groups.
Conclusion: In this analysis, we observed significant differences in age and age of first nonmedical opioid use between YPWID who shared drug equipment and those who did not. Notably, traditional sociodemographic factors like gender, education and homelessness did not correlate with sharing behavior. These preliminary findings suggest interventions targeting YPWID should account for individual risk factors like age and drug history rather than sociodemographic characteristics alone, emphasizing the need for tailored harm reduction prevention strategies.