Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29715589›Full record

ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2018

Stigma at every turn: Health services experiences among people who inject drugs.

Catherine E Paquette, Jennifer L Syvertsen, Robin A Pollini

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 273 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
273citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

273 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Trust in addiction treatment services among people who use drugs in Vietnam.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2026
    Trial
  7. Trial
  8. Trial
  9. Trial
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

213 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Catherine E PaquettePacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 11720 Beltsville Drive, Calverton, MD, 20705, USA; Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 235 E. Cameron Avenue, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. Electronic address: catherine.paquette@unc.edu.
Jennifer L SyvertsenDepartment of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, 4046 Smith Laboratory, 174 W. 18th Ave., Columbus, OH, 43210, USA; Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside, 1334 Watkins Hall, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA. Electronic address: jsyverts@ucr.edu.
Robin A PolliniPacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 11720 Beltsville Drive, Calverton, MD, 20705, USA; Injury Control Research Center and Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, West Virginia University, 3606 Collins Ferry Road, Suite 201, Morgantown, WV, 26505, USA. Electronic address: robin.pollini@hsc.wvu.edu.

Funding

OTC Syringe Sales to Prevent HIV in Underserved Areas of Inland CaliforniaR01DA035098 · NIDA · PACIFIC INSTITUTE FOR RES AND EVALUATION · PI POLLINI, ROBIN A · 2013 to 2016
$2.5M
NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA035098
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPeople who inject drugs (PWID) encounter varying forms of stigma in health services contexts, which can contribute to adverse outcomes. We explored the lived experience of stigma among PWID to elucidate pathways by which stigma influences health care access and utilization.

methodsWe conducted 46 qualitative interviews with PWID in California's Central Valley between March and December 2015, as part of a multi-phase, multi-method study examining implementation of a new pharmacy syringe access law. A "risk environment" framework guided our data collection and we used a deductive/inductive approach to analyze the qualitative data.

resultsParticipants repeatedly cited the impact of stigma on syringe access, particularly in the context of meso-level pharmacist interactions. They described being denied syringe purchase as stigmatizing and embarrassing, and these experiences discouraged them from attempting to purchase syringes under the new pharmacy access law. Participants described feeling similarly stigmatized in their meso-level interactions with first responders and hospital staff, and associated this stigmatization with delayed and substandard medical care for overdoses and injection-related infections. Drug treatment was another area where stigma operated against PWID's health interests; participants described macro-level public stigma towards methadone (e.g., equating methadone treatment with illicit drug use) as discouraging participation in this evidence-based treatment modality and justifying exclusion of methadone patients from recovery support services like sober living and Narcotics Anonymous.

conclusionStigma played an undeniably important role in PWID's experiences with health services access and utilization in the Central Valley. Our study illustrates the need to develop and test interventions that target drug use stigma at both structural and individual levels to minimize adverse effects on PWID health.

Indexed as

Patient Acceptance of Health CareSocial StigmaAdultAgedFemaleHealth Services AccessibilityHumansMaleMiddle AgedQualitative ResearchSubstance Abuse, IntravenousYoung AdultHealthcare disparitiesInjection drug useMethadonePharmaciesStigmaSyringe access

Identifiers

PMID29715589
PMCPMC5994194

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.