PURPOSE: This longitudinal study examines the association between homelessness and injection drug use initiation among a cohort of street-involved youth in a setting of high-prevalence crystal methamphetamine use. METHODS: We derived data from the At-Risk Youth Study, a prospective cohort of street-involved youth aged 14-26 years, recruited between September 2005 and November 2011. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to identify factors independently associated with time to injection initiation. RESULTS: Among 422 street-youth who had never injected at baseline, we observed 77 injection initiation events during follow-up. Homelessness was independently associated with injection initiation in multivariate Cox regression (relative hazard, 1.80 [95% confidence interval, 1.13-2.87]) after adjusting for crystal methamphetamine use and other potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight that homelessness is a key risk factor for injection initiation among street-involved youth. Supportive housing interventions for street youth may help prevent injection drug use initiation within this high-risk population.
PURPOSE: This longitudinal study examines the association between homelessness and injection drug use initiation among a cohort of street-involved youth in a setting of high-prevalence crystal methamphetamine use. METHODS: We derived data from the At-Risk Youth Study, a prospective cohort of street-involved youth aged 14-26 years, recruited between September 2005 and November 2011. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to identify factors independently associated with time to injection initiation. RESULTS: Among 422 street-youth who had never injected at baseline, we observed 77 injection initiation events during follow-up. Homelessness was independently associated with injection initiation in multivariate Cox regression (relative hazard, 1.80 [95% confidence interval, 1.13-2.87]) after adjusting for crystal methamphetamine use and other potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight that homelessness is a key risk factor for injection initiation among street-involved youth. Supportive housing interventions for street youth may help prevent injection drug use initiation within this high-risk population.
Authors: Hannah L F Cooper; Brooke West; Sabriya Linton; Josalin Hunter-Jones; Maria Zlotorzynska; Ron Stall; Mary E Wolfe; Leslie Williams; H Irene Hall; Charles Cleland; Barbara Tempalski; Samuel R Friedman Journal: Am J Public Health Date: 2015-12-21 Impact factor: 9.308
Authors: Elena Argento; Steffanie A Strathdee; Shira Goldenberg; Melissa Braschel; Julio Montaner; Kate Shannon Journal: Drug Alcohol Depend Date: 2017-04-19 Impact factor: 4.492
Authors: Brendan Jacka; Tanya Applegate; Art F Poon; Jayna Raghwani; P Richard Harrigan; Kora DeBeck; M-J Milloy; Mel Krajden; Andrea Olmstead; Jeffrey B Joy; Brandon D L Marshall; Kanna Hayashi; Oliver G Pybus; Viviane Dias Lima; Gkikas Magiorkinis; Julio Montaner; Francois Lamoury; Gregory J Dore; Evan Wood; Jason Grebely Journal: J Hepatol Date: 2016-02-26 Impact factor: 25.083