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Table 2 Socio-demographic, drug use and health characteristics at baseline, by recruitment location

From: Establishing the Melbourne injecting drug user cohort study (MIX): rationale, methods, and baseline and twelve-month follow-up results

Variable

Recruitment location

χ 2

Inner-West

Central

Outer-urban

N=361

N=177

N=150

p-value

n (%)

n (%)

n (%)

Recruitment method

   

0.615

  RDS

130 (36)

67 (38)

49 (33)

  Other

231 (64)

110 (62)

101 (67)

Demographic and social characteristics

Sex

   

0.920

  Female

119 (33)

58 (33)

52 (35)

  Male

242 (67)

119 (67)

98 (65)

Age

    

  Median (IQR)

27.4 (24.4-29.3)

28.0 (24.4-29.8)

27.8 (23.9-29.6)

0.579

Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander status

   

0.534

  Yes

22 (6)

12 (7)

6 (4)

  No

339 (94)

165 (93)

144 (96)

Country of birth

   

<0.001

  Australia

275 (76)

136 (77)

139 (93)

  Other

84 (24)

40 (23)

11 (7)

Main income source (last month)

   

0.140

  Wage or salary

28 (8)

15 (9)

15 (10)

  Government pension or benefits

308 (85)

150 (85)

131 (89)

  Other1

25 (7)

11 (6)

2 (1)

Employment status

   

0.547

  Not employed

311 (86)

154 (87)

125 (83)

  Employed

50 (14)

22 (13)

25 (17)

Education

   

0.055

  Did not complete year 10

118 (33)

49 (28)

64 (43)

  Completed year 10–11

169 (47)

85 (48)

63 (42)

  Completed high school or higher

74 (21)

43 (24)

23 (15)

Current accommodation type

   

<0.001

  Owner-occupied

97 (27)

27 (15)

30 (20)

  Private rental

103 (29)

41 (24)

48 (32)

  Public housing

104 (29)

54 (30)

49 (33)

  No stable accommodation

55 (15)

55 (31)

21 (14)

Incarceration history

   

0.150

  Never been in prison

145 (40)

76 (43)

55 (37)

  Incarcerated once

123 (34)

46 (26)

42 (28)

  Incarcerated two or more times

92 (26)

54 (31)

51 (35)

Recent arrest (last 12 months)

   

0.299

  Yes

201 (56)

86 (49)

82 (56)

  No

159 (44)

89 (51)

64 (44)

Drug use characteristics

    

Age at first injection

   

<0.001

  Median (IQR)

17 (15–20)

17 (15–19)

16 (14–18)

Duration of injecting career (years)

   

0.004

  Median (range)

9.7 (<1-20.5)

10.2 (<1-21.2)

11.3 (1.1-21.2)

First drug injected

261 (72)

106 (60)

78 (52)

<0.001

  Heroin

91 (25)

63 (36)

59 (39)

  Amphetamines

4 (1)

5 (3)

1 (1)

  Other stimulant

3 (1)

2 (1)

10 (7)

  Other opiate

2 (1)

1 (1)

2 (1)

  Other

   

Drugs injected last month

   

<0.001

  Heroin only

172 (48)

85 (48)

22 (15)

  Heroin and other drugs

165 (46)

67 (38)

52 (35)

  Amphetamines only

9 (3)

8 (5)

17 (11)

  Other drugs only2

4 (1)

8 (5)

48 (32)

  Did not inject in last week

11 (3)

9 (5)

11 (7)

Frequency of heroin injection (last week)

   

0.022

  Median (range)

5 (1–60)

4 (1–50)

3 (1–28)

Frequency of methamphetamine injection (last week)

   

0.047

  Median (range)

2 (1–25)

2 (1–42)

2 (1–28)

Ever been on OST

   

0.072

  Yes

260 (72)

115 (65)

114 (77)

  No

99 (28)

61 (35)

35 (23)

Currently on OST

   

0.001

  Yes

121 (34)

50 (28)

71 (48)

  No

238 (66)

126 (72)

78 (52)

Frequency of alcohol use (last month)

   

0.001

  Never

146 (40)

69 (39)

34 (23)

  Once per week or less

119 (33)

48 (27)

51 (34)

  Two to three times per week

31 (9)

20 (11)

26 (18)

  Four or more times per week

65 (18)

39 (22)

38 (26)

Heroin overdose (lifetime)

   

0.654

  Yes

141 (39)

68 (39)

64 (43)

  No

219 (61)

107 (61)

84 (57)

Heroin overdose (last six months)

   

0.799

  Yes

36 (26)

18 (27)

14 (22)

  No

104 (74)

50 (74)

50 (78)

Health characteristics

    

BBV status (self-reported) 3

n=324

n=162

n=143

 

  HCV positive

164 (51)

80 (49)

64 (45)

0.863

Number of health services used (last month)

n=352

n=172

n=148

 

  Median (range)

1 (0–7)

1 (0–9)

1 (0–5)

0.013

Health services used (last month) 4

    

  Hospital Emergency Department

47 (13)

22 (12)

24 (16)

0.593

  Hospital Inpatients

14 (4)

10 (6)

11 (7)

0.260

  Hospital Outpatients

10 (3)

15 (9)

8 (5)

0.012

  General Practice

200 (56)

95 (54)

105 (71)

0.003

  PWID Primary Health Care Centre

55 (15)

41 (23)

22 (15)

0.047

  Ambulance

25 (7)

15 (9)

14 (9)

0.620

  Psychologist/psychiatrist

45 (13)

30 (17)

22 (15)

0.362

  Other5

45 (13)

33 (19)

22 (15)

0.165

  1. 1 Includes criminal activity, sex work, being supported by spouse or family member, no current income.
  2. 2 Includes cocaine, ecstasy, pharmaceutical stimulants, benzodiazepines, Unisom and participants who reported >1 drug injected most often.
  3. 3 Among those who reported ever being tested for HCV.
  4. 4 Among participants who completed question (n=675 - 684); Not mutually exclusive.
  5. 5 Includes specialist physician, dentist, allied health service.