Comparison of injecting drug users who obtain syringes from pharmacies and syringe exchange programs in Tallinn, Estonia

Vorobjov, Sigrid; Uusküla, Anneli; Abel-Ollo, Katri; Talu, Ave; Rüütel, Kristi; Des Jarlais, Don C

doi:10.1186/1477-7517-6-3

Harm Reduction Journal

Table 1 Univariate comparisons between factors¹ and main sources for new and unused syringes

From: Comparison of injecting drug users who obtain syringes from pharmacies and syringe exchange programs in Tallinn, Estonia

	Pharmacy		SEP²
Variable	n	%	n	%	OR	95% CI	p-value
Gender:
Male	118	88.72	160	82.05	1.72	0.90–3.30	0.102
Female	15	11.28	35	17.95	1.0
Age:
< 20	12	9.02	9	4.62	2.41	0.91–6.35	0.075
20–24	41	30.83	60	30.77	1.23	0.68–2.23	0.486
25–29	49	36.84	70	35.90	1.26	0.71–2.24	0.420
> 30	31	23.31	56	28.72	1.0
Ethnicity:
Russian	106	84.80	168	87.05	0.83	0.44–1.58	0.571
Estonian	19	15.20	25	12.95	1.0
Marital status:
Single	96	72.73	156	80.83	0.63	0.37–1.07	0.087
Married or cohabiting	36	27.27	37	19.17	1.0
Educational level:
< 9 years	72	54.55	100	51.28	0.72	0.17–2.97	0.650
10–12 years	56	42.42	91	46.67	0.62	0.15–2.56	0.504
> 12 years	4	3.03	4	2.05	1.0
Main source of income in last 6 months:
Other	52	39.10	101	51.79	0.60	0.38–0.93	0.024
Regular or temporary job	81	60.90	94	48.21	1.0
Having health insurance:
No	65	50.00	120	61.54	1.0
Yes	65	50.00	75	38.46	1.60	1.02–2.51	0.040
Duration of injection career:
0–2 years	22	16.54	11	5.70	3.74	1.65–8.51	0.002
3–5 years	30	22.56	30	15.54	1.87	0.99–3.54	0.054
6–9 years	42	31.58	79	40.93	0.99	0.58–1.71	0.986
> 10 years	39	29.32	73	37.82	1.0
Frequency of injecting:
Less than daily	50	37.59	47	24.10	1.0
Daily	83	62.41	148	75.90	0.53	0.33–0.85	0.009
Intensity of injecting per day:
One	33	24.81	22	11.34	1.0
More than one	100	75.19	172	88.66	0.39	0.21–0.70	0.002
Main drug injected during last 6 months:
Fentanyl	98	74.24	166	85.13	0.50	0.29–0.88	0.015
Amphetamine	71	53.38	98	50.26	1.13	0.72–1.76	0.578
Ever overdosed:
No	52	39.10	61	31.28	1.0
Yes	81	60.90	134	68.72	0.71	0.45–1.12	0.144
Sharing syringes during last 6 months:
No	82	62.12	128	65.98	1.0
Yes	50	37.88	66	34.02	1.18	0.75–1.87	0.475
Sharing paraphernalia during last 6 months:
No	102	76.69	153	79.27	1.0
Yes	31	23.31	40	20.73	1.16	0.68–1.98	0.579
Ever shared needles with someone known to be HIV positive:
No	38	29.46	34	18.48	1.0
Yes	91	70.54	150	81.52	0.54	0.32–0.92	0.024
Sharing needles with sexual partner during last 6 months:
No	30	60.00	45	67.16	1.0
Yes	20	40.00	22	32.84	1.36	0.63–2.92	0.425
Number of sexual partners during last 12 months:
None or one	63	47.37	116	60.42	1.0
More than one	70	52.63	76	39.58	1.70	1.08–2.65	0.020
Number of casual partners during last 6 months:
None	71	53.38	133	68.21	1.0
One or more	62	46.62	62	31.79	1.87	1.19–2.95	0.007
Condom use with casual partner during last 6 months:
Never	12	19.35	11	17.19	1.0
Occasionally/Always	50	80.65	53	82.81	0.86	0.35–2.14	0.753
Condom use with primary partner during last 6 months:
Never	32	48.48	45	47.37	1.0
Occasionally/Always	34	51.52	50	52.63	0.96	0.51–1.79	0.889
Self-reported STI (syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, genital herpes):
No	119	89.47	173	88.72	1.0
Yes	14	10.53	22	11.28	0.93	0.46–1.88	0.830
Disease serostatus:
HIV+	61	45.86	123	64.06	0.48	0.30–0.75	0.001
HCV+	117	87.97	190	98.96	0.08	0.02–0.34	0.001
Ever had HIV test:
No	22	16.54	25	12.89	1.0
Yes	111	83.46	169	87.11	0.75	0.40–1.39	0.356
Ever received drug treatment:
No	82	61.65	115	58.97	1.0
Yes	51	38.35	80	41.03	0.89	0.57–1.40	0.627
Ever been in prison:
No	57	42.86	75	38.46	1.0
Yes	76	57.14	120	61.54	0.83	0.53–1.30	0.426

¹Reference group SEP users.
²Includes Syringe Exchange Program outreach workers as the source of new and unused syringes.

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ISSN: 1477-7517

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