Awareness, predictors and outcomes of drug alerts among people who access harm reduction services in British Columbia, Canada: findings from a 2021 cross-sectional survey.
BMJ Open
; 13(5): e071379, 2023 05 09.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37160395
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To assess the awareness and predictors of seeing/hearing a drug alert in British Columbia (BC) and subsequent drug use behaviour after seeing/hearing an alert.METHODS:
This study analysed the 2021 BC harm reduction client survey (HRCS)-a cross-sectional self-reported survey administered at harm reduction sites throughout the province and completed by participants using the services.RESULTS:
In total, n=537 respondents participated and n=482 (89.8%) responded to the question asking if they saw/heard a drug alert. Of those, n=300 (62.2%) stated that they saw/heard a drug alert and almost half reported hearing from a friend or peer network; the majority (67.4%) reported altering their drug use behaviour to be safer after seeing/hearing a drug alert. The proportion of individuals who saw/heard a drug alert increased with each ascending age category. Among health authorities, there were significant differences in the odds of seeing/hearing an alert. In the past 6 months, the odds of participants who attended harm reduction sites a few times per month seeing/hearing an alert were 2.73 (95% CI 1.17 to 6.52) times the odds of those who did not. Those who attended more frequently were less likely to report seeing/hearing a drug alert. The odds of those who witnessed an opioid-related overdose in the past 6 months seeing/hearing an alert were 1.96 (95% CI 0.86 to 4.50) times the odds of those who had not.CONCLUSION:
We found that drug alerts were mostly disseminated through communication with friends or peers and that most participants altered their drug use behaviour after seeing/hearing a drug alert. Therefore, drug alerts can play a role in reducing harms from substance use and more work is needed to reach diverse populations, such as younger people, those in differing geographical locations, and those who attend harm reduction sites more frequently.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Contexto em Saúde:
1_ASSA2030
/
2_ODS3
/
8_ODS3_consumo_sustancias_psicoactivas
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Redução do Dano
/
Overdose de Opiáceos
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMJ Open
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article