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Syringe Sharing Among a Prospective Cohort of Street-Involved Youth: Implications for Needle Distribution Programs

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Abstract

The sharing of previously used syringes is associated with the transmission of Hepatitis C and HIV. This longitudinal study examines syringe borrowing and syringe lending within a prospective cohort of street-involved youth in Vancouver, Canada. From September 2005 to May 2014, data were collected from the At-Risk Youth Study, a cohort of street-involved youth age 14–26 at enrollment, and analyzed using generalized estimating equations. Among 505 participants, 142 (28.1%) reported syringe borrowing and 132 (26.1%) reported syringe lending during the study period. In separate multivariable analyses, having difficulty finding clean needles and homelessness were significantly associated with syringe borrowing (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 2.28, 95% CI 1.66–3.12 and AOR = 1.52, CI 1.05–2.21, respectively) and syringe lending (AOR = 1.89, 95% CI 1.32–2.71 and AOR = 1.65, 95% CI 1.11–2.44, respectively) (all p values < 0.05). Findings highlight gaps in syringe access for vulnerable young injectors and suggest that service delivery for youth may be suboptimal. Further examination of how needle distribution efforts might be improved to better meet the needs of young people is warranted.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the study participants for their contribution to the research, as well as current and past researchers and staff.

Funding

The study was supported by the US National Institutes of Health (R01DA028532, U01DA038886) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (MOP–102742). This research was undertaken, in part, thanks to funding from the Canada Research Chairs program through a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Inner City Medicine, which supports Dr. Evan Wood. Dr. Kora DeBeck is supported by a MSFHR/St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation-Providence Health Care Career Scholar Award and a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator Award. Dr. Lindsey Richardson is supported by a New Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and a Scholar award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. Dr. Nikki Bozinoff received support from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation/Addiction Medicine Foundation through a Next Generation Award as well as through the Research in Addiction Medicine Scholars program (R25DA033211).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, 500 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5G 1V7, Canada

    Nikki Bozinoff

  2. BC Centre on Substance Use, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul’s Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6, Canada

    Nikki Bozinoff, Evan Wood, Huiru Dong, Lindsey Richardson, Thomas Kerr & Kora DeBeck

  3. Department of Medicine, St. Paul’s Hospital, University of British Columbia, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6, Canada

    Evan Wood & Thomas Kerr

  4. Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia, 6303 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada

    Lindsey Richardson

  5. School of Public Policy, Harbour Centre, Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 5K3, Canada

    Kora DeBeck

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  1. Nikki Bozinoff
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Correspondence to Kora DeBeck.

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All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Bozinoff, N., Wood, E., Dong, H. et al. Syringe Sharing Among a Prospective Cohort of Street-Involved Youth: Implications for Needle Distribution Programs. AIDS Behav 21, 2717–2725 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1762-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1762-1

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