ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2019
Street fentanyl use: Experiences, preferences, and concordance between self-reports and urine toxicology.
Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review on intentional non-medical fentanyl use among people who use drugs.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- The Evolving Overdose Epidemic: Synthetic Opioids and Rising Stimulant-Related Harms.Epidemiologic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Opioid withdrawal symptoms, frequency, and pain characteristics as correlates of health risk among people who inject drugs.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2020Trial
- Survey of local patterns of fentanyl exposure and harm reduction strategies in the Southeastern United States.The mental health clinician · 2026Article
- Use of Illegally Manufactured Fentanyl in the United States: Current Trends.Current addiction reports · 2025Article
- Examining predictors of substance use and treatment adequacy among formerly incarcerated individuals with a history of opioid and cocaine use: research protocol.Health & justice · 2025Article
- "I don't know how you can overdose smoking them:" Perceptions of overdose risks among persons who use illicit fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- High concordance between urine toxicology results and self-reported fentanyl use in Nevada and New Mexico.Clinical toxicology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2024Article
- Heroin or fentanyl: Prevalence of confirmed fentanyl in ED patients with suspected heroin overdose.Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open · 2024Article
- Safety strategies and harm reduction for methamphetamine users in the era of fentanyl contamination: A qualitative analysis.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Article
- The influence of transformations in supply on methamphetamine initiation among people injecting opioids in the United States.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Defining what we mean by "polysubstance use."The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2024Article
- Fentanyl Exposure and Detection Strategies Utilized by Clinical Trial Participants Seeking Linkage to Opioid Use Disorder Treatment at a Syringe Service Program.Journal of medical toxicology : official journal of the American College of Medical Toxicology · 2024Article
- Overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids: Racial/ethnic and educational disparities in the eastern and western US.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2023Article
- "Just another thing for me to stress off of": Responses to unintentional fentanyl use in a community-based study of people who use opioids.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- Understanding intentionality of fentanyl use and drug overdose risk: Findings from a mixed methods study of people who inject drugs in New York City.The International journal on drug policy · 2023Article
- "Just another thing for me to stress off of:" Responses to Unintentional Fentanyl Use in a Community-based Study of People who Use Opioids.Research square · 2023Article
- Attitudes and experiences with fentanyl contamination of methamphetamine: exploring self-reports and urine toxicology among persons who use methamphetamine and other drugs.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- Trajectories of non-prescribed buprenorphine and other opioid use: A multi-trajectory latent class growth analysis.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2023Article
- Fentanyl withdrawal: Understanding symptom severity and exploring the role of body mass index on withdrawal symptoms and clearance.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundConducted in Dayton, Ohio, the study aims to characterize user knowledge and experiences with non-pharmaceutical fentanyl-type drugs (NPFs) and compare self-reports with urine toxicology for NPFs and heroin.
methodsBetween May 2017-January 2018, 60 individuals who self-reported heroin/NPF use were interviewed using structured questionnaire on socio-demographics, NPF and other drug use practices. Unobserved urine samples were collected and analyzed using: 1) liquid-chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based method (Toxicology lab) to identify 34 fentanyl analogues, metabolites, and other synthetic opioids; 2) immunoassay-based method to screen for opiates (heroin). Sensitivity, specificity and Cohen's kappa were calculated to assess agreement between self-reports and urine toxicology.
resultsThe sample was 52% female, and over 90% white. Almost 60% reported preference for heroin, and 40% for NPF. Participants endorsed a number of ways of distinguishing heroin from NPF, including appearance (88.3%), effects (76.7%), taste (55%), and information provided by dealers (53.3%). Almost 80% felt confident they could distinguish heroin from NPF, but knowledge about fentanyl analogues was limited. LC-MS/MS testing identified 8 types of NPFs. Over 88% tested positive for NPFs, including 86% fentanyl, 48% carfentanil, 42% acetyl fentanyl. About 47% screened positive for opiates/heroin, and all of them were also positive for NPFs. When comparing self-reported use of NPF to urine toxicology, sensitivity and specificity were relatively high (84% and 83.3%, accordingly), while Cohen's Kappa was 0.445, indicating fair agreement. Sensitivity and specificity were lower for heroin (77.8% and 50.0%, accordingly), and Cohen's Kappa was 0.296, indicating low agreement between self-reports of heroin use and urine toxicology. DISCUSSION: Nearly 90% of the study participants tested positive for NPF-type drugs. Participants were more likely to over-report heroin use and underreport NPF use. The majority had little knowledge about fentanyl analogues. Study findings will inform development of novel harm reduction approaches to reduce overdose mortality.
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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.