Abstract
The leading cause of death among heroin users is drug overdose. The present study examined the relationship between history of self-reported drug overdoses and social network characteristics among cocaine and opiate users. Data were from cross-sectional surveys administered from March 2001 through February 2003 as part of follow-up of an experimental network oriented HIV prevention intervention. A total of 838 participants with histories of cocaine and opiate use completed the survey. Several social network variables were found to be significantly associated with drug overdose in the prior 2 years, including larger number of network members who were injection drug users and a larger number of conflictual ties among the network members. Even after controlling for age, gender, frequency of injection drug and alcohol use, and health status, network variables continued to have a strong association with history of recent overdose. These data suggest that large drug networks should be targeted for drug overdose prevention interventions.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 61-67 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Drug and alcohol dependence |
Volume | 73 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 7 2004 |
Keywords
- Heroin
- Injection drug use
- Overdose
- Social influence
- Social network
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Toxicology
- Pharmacology
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Pharmacology (medical)