ArticlePloS one2015
Factors Associated with Leaving Hospital against Medical Advice among People Who Use Illicit Drugs in Vancouver, Canada.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 81 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Opioid withdrawal symptoms, frequency, and pain characteristics as correlates of health risk among people who inject drugs.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2020Trial
- Peer Support Workers to Improve Emergency Department Care Completion Among Patients Who Use Substances: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open · 2026Article
- 24-48 h initiation by transdermal buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid use disorder in the inpatient setting: a retrospective chart review.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2026Article
- Supporting Patients With Stimulant Use Disorder During and After Hospitalization With a Mobile App-based Contingency Management Intervention: A Feasibility and Acceptability Study.Journal of addiction medicine · 2025Article
- Bacterial and fungal infections in persons who inject drugs.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- Risk Factors for Infective Endocarditis and Serious Injection Related Infections Among People Who Inject Drugs in Los Angeles, CA and Denver, CO.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Physician perspectives on reducing harm and supporting emergency department patients who use drugs.PloS one · 2025Article
- Economic evaluation of the effect of needle and syringe programs on skin, soft tissue, and vascular infections in people who inject drugs: a microsimulation modelling approach.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Real-World Dalbavancin Use for Serious Gram-Positive Infections: Comparing Outcomes Between People Who Use and Do Not Use Drugs.Open forum infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Characterizing Opioid Withdrawal Experiences and Consequences Among a Community Sample of People Who Use Opioids.Substance use & misuse · 2024Article
- Perspectives of patients who inject drugs on a needle and syringe program at a large acute care hospital.PloS one · 2024Article
- Self-discharge during treatment for acute recreational drug toxicity: an observational study from emergency departments in seven European countries.International journal of emergency medicine · 2023Article
- How an emergency department is organized to provide opioid-specific harm reduction and facilitators and barriers to harm reduction implementation: a systems perspective.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- People with lived and living experience of methamphetamine use and admission to hospital: what harm reduction do they suggest needs to be addressed?Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice · 2023Article
- The Impact of Discharge Against Medical Advice on Readmission After Opioid Use Disorder-Associated Infective Endocarditis: a National Cohort Study.Journal of general internal medicine · 2023Article
- Emergency department experiences of people who use drugs who left or were discharged from hospital against medical advice.PloS one · 2023Article
- Self-injecting non-prescribed substances into vascular access devices: a case study of one health system's ongoing journey from clinical concern to practice and policy response.Harm reduction journal · 2022Article
- Philanthropic donor perspectives about providing harm reduction services for people living with HIV/AIDS in a hospital setting.Harm reduction journal · 2022Article
- Through An Equity Lens: Illuminating The Relationships Among Social Inequities, Stigma And Discrimination, And Patient Experiences of Emergency Health Care.International journal of health services : planning, administration, evaluation · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLeaving hospital against medical advice (AMA) is common among people who use illicit drugs (PWUD) and is associated with severe health-related harms and costs. However, little is known about the prevalence of and factors associated with leaving AMA among PWUD.
methodsData were collected through two Canadian prospective cohort studies involving PWUD between September 2005 and July 2011 and linked to a hospital admission/discharge database. Bivariable and multivariable generalized estimating equations were used to examine factors associated with leaving hospital AMA among PWUD who were hospitalized.
resultsAmong 488 participants who experienced at least one hospitalization, 212 (43.4%) left the hospital AMA at least once during the study period. In multivariable analyses, factors positively and significantly associated with leaving hospital AMA included: unstable employment (AOR = 1.92; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.22-3.03); recent incarceration (AOR = 1.63; 95%CI: 1.07-2.49); ≥ daily heroin injection (AOR = 1.49; 95%CI: 1.05-2.11); and younger age per year younger (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.04; 95%CI: 1.02-1.06).
conclusionsWe found a substantial proportion of PWUD in this setting left hospital AMA and that various markers of risk and vulnerability were associated with this phenomenon. Our findings highlight the need to address substance abuse issues early following hospital admission. These findings further suggest a need to develop novel interventions to minimize PWUD leaving hospital prematurely.
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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.