Health-related quality of life among people who inject drugs in Australia.
Qual Life Res
; 32(11): 3195-3207, 2023 Nov.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37351701
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
There is limited research on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among people who inject drugs (PWID). We aimed to evaluate factors associated with HRQoL among a cohort of PWID in Australia.METHODS:
Participants were enrolled in an observational cohort study (the LiveRLife Study) between 2014 and 2018 at 15 sites in Australia. They provided fingerstick whole-blood samples for point-of-care HCV RNA testing and underwent transient elastography to assess liver disease. Participants completed the EQ-5D-3L survey at enrolment. Regression models were used to assess the impact of clinical and socioeconomic characteristics on the EQ-5D-3L scores.RESULTS:
Among 751 participants (median age, 43 years; 67% male), 63% reported injection drug use in the past month, 43% had current HCV infection, and 68% had no/mild liver fibrosis (F0/F1). The mean EQ-5D-3L and EQ-VAS scores were 0.67 and 62, respectively, for the overall study population. There was no significant difference in the EQ-5D-3L scores among people with and without recent injecting drug use (mean 0.66 vs. 0.68, median 0.73 vs. 0.78, P = 0.405), and among people receiving and not receiving opioid agonist therapy (mean 0.66 vs. 0.68, median 0.73 vs. 0.76, P = 0.215). Participants who were employed were found to have the highest mean EQ-5D-3L (0.83) and EQ-VAS scores (77). The presence of current HCV infection, liver fibrosis stage, and high-risk alcohol consumption had little impact on HRQoL.CONCLUSIONS:
The study findings provide important HRQoL data for economic evaluations, useful for guiding the allocation of resources for HCV elimination strategies and interventions among PWID.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Substance Abuse, Intravenous
/
Hepatitis C
/
Drug Users
Type of study:
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Oceania
Language:
En
Journal:
Qual Life Res
Journal subject:
REABILITACAO
/
TERAPEUTICA
Year:
2023
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Australia