The study followed several hundred non-injecting heroin users longitudinally in order to understand the risk factors for moving from the non-injected use of heroin to injection as a route of drug administration and the role of social network influences on that transition.
Understanding the factors involved in the initiation of injection as a route of drug administration among those individuals already using heroin is important to efforts to control the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. The study found that the transition to injecting by non-injecting users of heroin is not universal and for some non-injecting heroin users evolves over a long time period. This is influenced by both individual characteristics as well as social network influence, providing multiple opportunities for intervention and prevention.
"This study provides significant advances in our understanding of the phenomena of heroin use and the factors that influence the transition to injecting as the mode of drug administration," noted Dr. Neaigus.
Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes: JAIDS, Volume 41, Issue 4, April 2006, pp. 493-503. Copyright © 2006, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.
Transitions to injecting drug use among noninjecting heroin users: social network influence and individual susceptibility. Allan Neaigus, Ph.D., V. Anna Gyarmathy, Ph.D., Maureen Miller, Ph.D., Veronica M. Frajzyngier, MPH, Samuel R. Friedman, Ph.D., Don C. Des Jarlais, Ph.D.
Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), DA 09920
Journal
JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes