ArticleInternational journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases2010
High prevalence of abscesses and self-treatment among injection drug users in Tijuana, Mexico.
Article in International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed.
- Review
- Injection-Related Infections and Self-treatment Practices Among People Who Inject Drugs in Rural Appalachia.Open forum infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Cutaneous Abscess Prevalence and Risk Factors Among People Who Inject Drugs in Denver, Colorado.Open forum infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Water, sanitation and hygiene insecurity predict abscess incidence among people who inject drugs in a binational US-Mexico metropolitan area: A longitudinal cohort study.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Article
- Staphylococcus aureus carriage and prevalence of skin and soft tissue infections among people who inject drugs: a longitudinal study.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- A community-based study of abscess self-treatment and barriers to medical care among people who inject drugs in the United States.Health & social care in the community · 2022Article
- Typologies and Correlates of Police Violence Against Female Sex Workers Who Inject Drugs at the México-United States Border: Limits ofJournal of interpersonal violence · 2022Article
- Self and professional treatment of skin and soft tissue infections among women who inject drugs: Implications for wound care provision to prevent endocarditis.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2022Article
- Treatment experiences for skin and soft tissue infections among participants of syringe service programs in North Carolina.Harm reduction journal · 2021Article
- Self-care habits among people who inject drugs with skin and soft tissue infections: a qualitative analysis.Harm reduction journal · 2019Article
- Sex work, injection drug use, and abscesses: Associations in women, but not men.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2018Article
- 2018 WSES/SIS-E consensus conference: recommendations for the management of skin and soft-tissue infections.World journal of emergency surgery : WJES · 2018Review
- How and why patients self-treat chronic wounds.International wound journal · 2017Article
- Physical pain is common and associated with nonmedical prescription opioid use among people who inject drugs.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2017Article
- Healthcare avoidance by people who inject drugs in Bangkok, Thailand.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2016Article
- Nationwide increase in hospitalizations for heroin-related soft tissue infections: Associations with structural market conditions.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2016Article
- Article
- Police Victimization Among Persons Who Inject Drugs Along the U.S.-Mexico Border.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2015Article
- The role of visual markers in police victimization among structurally vulnerable persons in Tijuana, Mexico.The International journal on drug policy · 2015Article
- Healthcare seeking and hospital admissions by people who inject drugs in response to symptoms of injection site infections or injuries in three urban areas of England.Epidemiology and infection · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSoft tissue infections are common among injection drug users (IDUs), but information on correlates and treatment in this highly marginalized population is lacking.
methodsSix hundred twenty-three community-recruited IDUs in Tijuana, Mexico, completed a detailed interview on abscess history and treatment. Univariate and multiple logistic regressions were used to identify factors independently associated with having an abscess in the prior 6 months.
resultsOverall, 46% had ever had an abscess and 20% had had an abscess in the past 6 months. Only 12% had sought medical care for their most recent abscess; 60% treated the abscess themselves. The most common self-treatment method was to apply heated (24%) or unheated (23%) Aloe vera leaf. Other methods included draining the wound with a syringe (19%) or knife (11%). Factors independently associated with recent abscess were having income from sex work (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 4.56, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.08-10.00), smoking methamphetamine (aOR 1.65, 95% CI 1.05-2.62), seeking someone to help with injection (aOR 2.06, 95% CI 1.18-3.61), and reporting that police affected where they used drugs (aOR 2.14, 95% CI 1.15-3.96).
conclusionsAbscesses are common among IDUs in this setting, but appropriate treatment is rare. Interventions to reduce barriers to medical care in this population are needed. Research on the effectiveness of Aloe vera application in this setting is also needed, as are interventions to provide IDU sex workers, methamphetamine smokers, and those who assist with injection with the information and equipment necessary to reduce abscess risk.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.