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Inadequate needle and syringe coverage among people who inject psychoactive drugs across England and Wales

Slater, L, Edmundson, C, Emanuel, E, Njoroge, J, Hope, V, Phipps, E, Desai, M and Croxford, S (2023) Inadequate needle and syringe coverage among people who inject psychoactive drugs across England and Wales. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy. ISSN 0968-7637

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Abstract

Aim: Needle and syringe (NS) provision is a proven intervention for reducing harms associated with injecting drug use, such as infections, but impact is coverage-dependent. We characterised people who injected drugs (PWID) in England and Wales who had insufficient NS in the past month to meet their injecting requirements.Methods: This study utilised 2017–2019 data from the annual Unlinked Anonymous Monitoring (UAM) Survey of PWID recruited through specialist services. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with inadequate NS coverage.Findings: Of 2,442 PWID surveyed who had injected in the past month, 34% reported inadequate NS coverage (or as high as 51% if including unsuccessful injections). Younger PWID (adjusted odds ratio: 2.18, 95% confidence interval: 1.35–3.52), those who began injecting in the past three years (1.46, 1.09–2.00), and those who reported sharing injecting equipment (1.46, 1.22–1.75) had greater odds of having inadequate NS coverage. PWID currently prescribed Opioid Substitution Treatment (OST) had lower odds of inadequate NS coverage (0.60, 0.49–0.73).Conclusion: Given the poor reported coverage of NS provision in England and Wales, there is urgent need to address inequity in accessing sufficient NS and increase coverage among this vulnerable group to reduce injecting-related harms.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy on 18/04/23, available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09687637.2023.2191811
Uncontrolled Keywords: 1117 Public Health and Health Services; 1605 Policy and Administration; Substance Abuse
Subjects: R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Divisions: Public Health Institute
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
SWORD Depositor: A Symplectic
Date Deposited: 18 Apr 2023 14:45
Last Modified: 18 Apr 2023 14:45
DOI or ID number: 10.1080/09687637.2023.2191811
URI: https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/19388
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