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Patterns of Non-injection Drug Use Associated with Injection Cessation among Street-Involved Youth in Vancouver, Canada

Resource type
Date created
2018-01-16
Authors/Contributors
Author: Kerr, Thomas
Author: Milloy, M-J
Author: Wood, Evan
Author: DeBeck, Kora
Abstract
Although abstinence from drug use is often a key goal of youth substance use treatment, transitioning to less harmful routes and types of drug use is desirable from both a clinical and public health perspective. Despite this, little is known about the trajectories of youth who inject drugs including changes in patterns of non-injection drug use. The At-Risk Youth Study (ARYS) is a longitudinal cohort of street-involved youth who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada. We used linear growth curve modeling to compare changes in non-injection drug use among participants who ceased injecting drugs for at least one 6-month period between September 2005 and May 2015 to matched controls who continued injecting over the same period. Of 387 eligible participants, 173 (44.7%) reported ceasing drug injection at least once. Non-injection drug use occurred during 160 (79.6%) periods of injection cessation. In adjusted linear growth curve analyses, the only non-injection drug use pattern observed to decrease significantly more than controls following injection cessation was daily crack/cocaine use (p = 0.024). With the exception of frequent crack/cocaine use, transitions out of injection drug use did not appear to coincide with increased reductions in patterns of non-injection drug use. Our findings indicate that most (80%) of the observed injection cessation events occurred in the context of ongoing substance use. Given that transitioning out of drug injection represents a significant reduction in risk and harm, efforts supporting vulnerable youth to move away from injecting may benefit from approaches that allow for ongoing non-injection drug use.
Document
Identifier
DOI: 10.1007/s11524-017-0225-3
Published as
Lake, S., Kerr, T., Nosova, E. et al. “Patterns of non-injection drug use associated with injection cessation among street-involved youth in Vancouver, Canada” Journal of Urban Health (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-017-0225-3
Publication title
Journal of Urban Health
Document title
Patterns of non-injection drug use associated with injection cessation among street-involved youth in Vancouver, Canada
Date
2018
Publisher DOI
10.1007/s11524-017-0225-3
Copyright statement
Copyright is held by the author(s).
Scholarly level
Peer reviewed?
Yes
Language
English
Member of collection
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injection_cessation_second_revision.pdf 210.81 KB

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