TY - JOUR
T1 - Fatal overdose prevention and experience with naloxone
T2 - A cross-sectional study from a community-based cohort of people who inject drugs in Baltimore, Maryland
AU - Buresh, Megan
AU - Gicquelais, Rachel E.
AU - Astemborski, Jacquie
AU - Kirk, Gregory D.
AU - Mehta, Shruti H.
AU - Genberg, Becky L.
N1 - Funding Information:
Grant support was provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) including the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U01-DA-036297 [GDK, SHM], R01-DA-12568 [SHM], and T32-AI102623 [SHM]). This research was facilitated by the infrastructure and resources provided by the Johns Hopkins University Center for AIDS Research, an NIH funded program (P30AI094189), which is supported by the following NIH Co-Funding and Participating Institutes and Centers: NIAID, NCI, NICHD, NHLBI, NIDA, NIMH, NIA, FIC, NIGMS, NIDDK, and OAR. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Buresh et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Introduction Overdose is a leading cause of death in the United States, especially among people who inject drugs (PWID). Improving naloxone access and carrying among PWID may offset recent increases in overdose mortality associated with the influx of synthetic opioids in the drug market. This study characterized prevalence and correlates of several naloxone outcomes among PWID. Methods During 2018, a survey to assess experience with naloxone was administered to 915 participants in the AIDS Linked to the IntraVenous Experience (ALIVE) study, an ongoing community-based observational cohort of people who currently inject or formerly injected drugs in Baltimore, Maryland. We examined the associations of naloxone outcomes (training, supply, use, and regular possession) with socio-demographic, substance use and healthcare utilization factors among PWID in order to characterize gaps in naloxone implementation among this high-risk population. Results Median age was 56 years, 34% were female, 85% were African American, and 31% recently injected. In the past six months, 46% (n = 421) reported receiving training in overdose prevention, 38% (n = 346) had received a supply of naloxone, 9% (n = 85) had administered naloxone, and 9% (n = 82) reported usually carrying a supply of naloxone. Recent non-fatal overdose was not associated with any naloxone outcomes in adjusted analysis. Active opioid use (aOR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.03, 4.28) and recent treatment of alcohol or substance use disorder (aOR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.13, 3.56) were associated with regularly carrying naloxone. Conclusion Further work is needed to encourage PWID to carry and effectively use naloxone to decrease rates of fatal opioid overdose. While accessing treatment for substance use disorder was positively associated with carrying naloxone, EMS response to 911 calls for overdose, the emergency department, and syringe services programs may be settings in which naloxone access and carrying could be encouraged among PWID.
AB - Introduction Overdose is a leading cause of death in the United States, especially among people who inject drugs (PWID). Improving naloxone access and carrying among PWID may offset recent increases in overdose mortality associated with the influx of synthetic opioids in the drug market. This study characterized prevalence and correlates of several naloxone outcomes among PWID. Methods During 2018, a survey to assess experience with naloxone was administered to 915 participants in the AIDS Linked to the IntraVenous Experience (ALIVE) study, an ongoing community-based observational cohort of people who currently inject or formerly injected drugs in Baltimore, Maryland. We examined the associations of naloxone outcomes (training, supply, use, and regular possession) with socio-demographic, substance use and healthcare utilization factors among PWID in order to characterize gaps in naloxone implementation among this high-risk population. Results Median age was 56 years, 34% were female, 85% were African American, and 31% recently injected. In the past six months, 46% (n = 421) reported receiving training in overdose prevention, 38% (n = 346) had received a supply of naloxone, 9% (n = 85) had administered naloxone, and 9% (n = 82) reported usually carrying a supply of naloxone. Recent non-fatal overdose was not associated with any naloxone outcomes in adjusted analysis. Active opioid use (aOR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.03, 4.28) and recent treatment of alcohol or substance use disorder (aOR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.13, 3.56) were associated with regularly carrying naloxone. Conclusion Further work is needed to encourage PWID to carry and effectively use naloxone to decrease rates of fatal opioid overdose. While accessing treatment for substance use disorder was positively associated with carrying naloxone, EMS response to 911 calls for overdose, the emergency department, and syringe services programs may be settings in which naloxone access and carrying could be encouraged among PWID.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0230127
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0230127
M3 - Article
C2 - 32160244
AN - SCOPUS:85081230553
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 15
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
IS - 3
M1 - e0230127
ER -