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Table 2 Drug use behaviors among participants at the Miami IDEA syringe exchange

From: Baseline differences in characteristics and risk behaviors among people who inject drugs by syringe exchange program modality: an analysis of the Miami IDEA syringe exchange

Characteristics

Sample total n (%)

Fixed site n (%)

Mobile van unit n (%)

p value

Total

718 (100.0)

591 (82.3)

127 (17.7)

 

Age at first drug injection

 Mean ± standard deviation

24.65 ± 8.80

24.78 ± 8.85

23.70 ± 8.44

0.302

Drugs injected, past month1

 Heroin

563 (78.4)

487 (82.4)

76 (59.8)

0.181

 Cocaine

187 (26.0)

153 (25.9)

34 (26.8)

 Speedball (heroin and cocaine)

127 (17.7)

110 (18.6)

17 (13.4)

 Methamphetamine

73 (10.2)

68 (11.5)

5 (3.9)

 Fentanyl/carfentanil

71 (9.9)

60 (10.2)

11 (8.7)

 Crack

59 (8.2)

47 (8.0)

12 (9.4)

 Prescription painkillers/opioids

57 (7.9)

52 (8.8)

5 (3.9)

 Other

24 (3.3)

19 (3.2)

5 (3.9)

Prescription opioid use prior to injection drug use

 Yes

351 (62.0)

306 (64.3)

45 (50.0)

0.010

Location most often inject, past month

 Private home

303 (49.2)

272 (51.9)

31 (33.7)

< 0.001

 Street, park, or parking lot

250 (40.6)

200 (38.2)

50 (54.3)

 Public building/restroom

48 (7.8)

43 (8.2)

5 (5.4)

 Other

15 (2.4)

9 (1.7)

6 (6.5)

Reuse needle/injection equipment when injecting, past month

 None of the time

48 (7.7)

36 (6.8)

12 (13.6)

0.003

 Some of the time

118 (19.0)

98 (18.4)

20 (22.7)

 Most of the time

135 (21.8)

109 (20.5)

26 (29.5)

 All of the time

319 (51.5)

289 (54.3)

30 (34.1)

Shared needle/injection equipment when injecting, past month

 None of the time

411 (63.1)

357 (63.5)

54 (60.7)

0.608

 Some of the time

131 (20.1)

111 (19.8)

20 (22.5)

 Most of the time

52 (8.0)

47 (8.4)

5 (5.6)

 All of the time

57 (8.8)

47 (8.4)

10 (11.2)

Used alcohol swab when injecting, past month

 None of the time

117 (54.9)

55 (44.0)

62 (70.5)

0.002

 Some of the time

46 (21.6)

33 (26.4)

13 (14.8)

 Most of the time

21 (9.9)

16 (12.8)

5 (5.7)

 All of the time

29 (13.6)

21 (16.8)

8 (9.1)

  1. 1Totals may exceed 100% as participants were allowed to select multiple answers for this question