Self-reported changes in drug use behaviors and syringe disposal methods following the opening of a supervised injecting facility in Copenhagen, Denmark

Harm Reduction Journal

Brandon DL Marshall³  Vibeke Skjødt Hass¹  Thomas Kerr²  Chanelle J Howe³  Elizabeth N Kinnard⁴ 

[1] The Saxo Institute, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen, Karen Blixens Vej 4, DK-2300 Copenhagen, Denmark;Urban Health Research Initiative, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, 608 – 1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6, Canada;Department of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, 121 South Main Street, Box G-S-121-2, Providence, RI 02912, USA;Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health, 121 South Main Street, Box G-S-121-4, Providence, RI 02912, USA

关键词: Denmark;    Syringe disposal;    Risk behaviors;    Harm reduction;    Injection drug users;    People who inject drugs;    Drug consumption room;    Supervised injecting facility;   

Others  :  1133816
DOI  :  10.1186/1477-7517-11-29

 received in 2014-07-03, accepted in 2014-09-22,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

In Denmark, the first standalone supervised injecting facility (SIF) opened in Copenhagen’s Vesterbro neighborhood on October 1, 2012. The purpose of this study was to assess whether use of services provided by the recently opened SIF was associated with changes in injecting behavior and syringe disposal practices among people who inject drugs (PWID). We hypothesized that risk behaviors (e.g., syringe sharing), and unsafe syringe disposal (e.g., dropping used equipment on the ground) had decreased among PWID utilizing the SIF.

Methods

Between February and August of 2013, we conducted interviews using a survey (in English and Danish) with forty-one people who reported injecting drugs at the SIF. We used descriptive statistics and McNemar’s test to examine sociodemographic characteristics of the sample, current drugs used, sites of syringe disposal before and after opening of the SIF, and perceived behavior change since using the SIF.

Results

Of the interviewed participants, 90.2% were male and the majority were younger than 40 years old (60.9%). Three-quarters (75.6%) of participants reported reductions in injection risk behaviors since the opening of the SIF, such as injecting in a less rushed manner (63.4%), fewer outdoor injections (56.1%), no longer syringe sharing (53.7%), and cleaning injecting site(s) more often (43.9%). Approximately two-thirds (65.9%) of participants did not feel that their frequency of injecting had changed; five participants (12.2%) reported a decrease in injecting frequency, and only two participants (4.9%) reported an increase in injecting frequency. Twenty-four (58.5%) individuals reported changing their syringe disposal practices since the opening of the SIF; of those, twenty-three (95.8%) reported changing from not always disposing safely to always disposing safely (McNemar’s test p-value < 0.001).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that use of the Copenhagen SIF is associated with adoption of safer behaviors that reduce harm and promote health among PWID, as well as practices that benefit the Vesterbro neighborhood (i.e., safer syringe disposal). As a public health intervention, Copenhagen’s SIF has successfully reached PWID engaging in risk behavior. To fully characterize the impacts of this and other Danish SIFs, further research should replicate this study with a larger sample size and prospective follow-up.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Kinnard et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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