Initiating IDU

A new paper on youth initiation of IDU is out. Details below.

We'll try to have the paper available on the PSI IDU site later this week.

Rob




AIDS and Behavior, Volume 12, Number 6 / November, 2008
Original Paper
Initiators: An Examination of Young Injecting Drug Users Who Initiate Others to Injecting

Joanne Bryant1 and Carla Treloar1

(1)
National Centre in HIV Social Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia


Received: 4 July 2007 Accepted: 3 December 2007 Published online: 21 December 2007

Abstract



Research about initiation to injecting drugs emphasises the role that relationships with others plays in the experience, suggesting investigations of initiation should include an examination of both initiates and initiators. This paper uses cross-sectional data collected from 324 young, early-career injecting drug users (IDU) to describe the socio-demographic characteristics, drug and injecting practices, and harm reduction knowledge and practices of people who report initiating others to injecting. Fifty-five participants (17%) reported giving someone else their first injection. They reported initiating a total of 128 other people within the first 5 years of their own injecting. Compared to non-initiators, initiators were more likely to pass on harm reduction information [odds ratios (OR): 2.36, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.26–4.40]. However, the quality of this information was unknown and initiators did not have more accurate knowledge of blood borne viruses (BBV) than non-initiators, and commonly obtained needles and syringes from sources where the sterility of the equipment could not be guaranteed.