TY - JOUR
T1 - Pharmacy access to sterile syringes for injection drug users
T2 - attitudes of participants in a syringe exchange program.
AU - Junge, B.
AU - Vlahov, D.
AU - Riley, E.
AU - Huettner, S.
AU - Brown, M.
AU - Beilenson, P.
N1 - Funding Information:
Correspondence: Benjamin Junge, MHSc, 627 N. Washington St., Baltimore, MD 21205. Fax: (410) 614-9910. E-mail: bjunge@jhsph.edu Acknowledgments: Supported by grant DA09237 from the NIDA, Department of Health and Human Services. The authors gratefully acknowledge the following individuals: Lamont Coger, Eric Peck, Gary Alsup, Edward Washington, Antonio Norman, Surrendor McKnight, and Warren Beads for daily operations on the syringe exchange program van; Martha Decker, Jason Langley, and John Vertefeuille for data collection. We are also indebted to the individuals who participated in this study. This research (including the informed consent procedure preceding interviews) was approved by the Johns Hopkins Committee on Human Research. This article is dedicated to the memory of Renee Edgington.
PY - 1999
Y1 - 1999
N2 - OBJECTIVE: To examine attitudes of participants of a van-based syringe exchange program (SEP) toward the hypothetical prospect of pharmacy-based syringe access. DESIGN: One-time, cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Baltimore, Maryland. PARTICIPANTS: 206 injection drug users who participate in the Baltimore SEP. INTERVENTIONS: Face-to-face interviews. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Location preferred for obtaining syringes, drug and syringe use, past experience with pharmacies, and willingness to pay. RESULTS: The sample was 67% men, 95% African American, and 95% unemployed; mean age was 39.8 years. A total of 19% of respondents had bought syringes at a pharmacy during the prior six months. Some 37% reported having been turned down when asking for syringes at a pharmacy, most commonly due to lack of identification to prove diabetic status (50%). If legal restrictions were lifted, 92% of respondents would obtain syringes from pharmacies, and would be willing to pay a mean price of $0.80 (median = $1.00) per syringe. Women were more likely than men to report the intention to switch from van-based SEP to pharmacy (57% versus 38%, p = .045). CONCLUSION: If current legal restrictions were lifted, pharmacies would be a viable syringe source appealing particularly to women, suggesting gender-specific access issues that should be addressed. The per-syringe price that study participants would be willing to pay exceeds typical retail prices, suggesting that pharmacists could charge enough per syringe to recoup operational costs.
AB - OBJECTIVE: To examine attitudes of participants of a van-based syringe exchange program (SEP) toward the hypothetical prospect of pharmacy-based syringe access. DESIGN: One-time, cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Baltimore, Maryland. PARTICIPANTS: 206 injection drug users who participate in the Baltimore SEP. INTERVENTIONS: Face-to-face interviews. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Location preferred for obtaining syringes, drug and syringe use, past experience with pharmacies, and willingness to pay. RESULTS: The sample was 67% men, 95% African American, and 95% unemployed; mean age was 39.8 years. A total of 19% of respondents had bought syringes at a pharmacy during the prior six months. Some 37% reported having been turned down when asking for syringes at a pharmacy, most commonly due to lack of identification to prove diabetic status (50%). If legal restrictions were lifted, 92% of respondents would obtain syringes from pharmacies, and would be willing to pay a mean price of $0.80 (median = $1.00) per syringe. Women were more likely than men to report the intention to switch from van-based SEP to pharmacy (57% versus 38%, p = .045). CONCLUSION: If current legal restrictions were lifted, pharmacies would be a viable syringe source appealing particularly to women, suggesting gender-specific access issues that should be addressed. The per-syringe price that study participants would be willing to pay exceeds typical retail prices, suggesting that pharmacists could charge enough per syringe to recoup operational costs.
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U2 - 10.1016/S1086-5802(16)30410-7
DO - 10.1016/S1086-5802(16)30410-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 9990182
AN - SCOPUS:0032618690
SN - 1086-5802
VL - 39
SP - 17
EP - 22
JO - Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association (Washington,D.C. : 1996)
JF - Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association (Washington,D.C. : 1996)
IS - 1
ER -