ArticleHarm reduction journal2019
Self-care habits among people who inject drugs with skin and soft tissue infections: a qualitative analysis.
Article in Harm reduction journal, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Integrated infectious disease and substance use disorder treatment for severe injection-related infections: protocol for the randomized controlled HI-SIRI trial.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2026Article
- "It Eats My Heart": Identifying Knowledge Gaps in Injection Drug-Related Endocarditis Among Hospitalized Patients.Substance use & addiction journal · 2026Article
- Bacterial and fungal infections in persons who inject drugs.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- Injection-Related Infections and Self-treatment Practices Among People Who Inject Drugs in Rural Appalachia.Open forum infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Addressing the Health Needs of People Who Inject Drugs: A Descriptive Analysis of an Inpatient Integrated Care Team Within an Acute Hospital in Scotland.Open forum infectious diseases · 2025Article
- "It always needs a higher level of care than what I can provide": Practical, ethical, and administrative tensions arising from the integration of wound care services into syringe service programs in Maryland.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- Social determinants of injection drug use-associated bacterial infections and treatment outcomes: systematic review and meta-analysis.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- 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
- Frame Shift: Focusing on Harm Reduction and Shared Decision Making for People Who Use Drugs Hospitalized With Infections.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2024Article
- Drug preparation, injection-related infections, and harm reduction practices among a national sample of individuals entering treatment for opioid use disorder.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Epidemiology of acute infections in people who inject drugs in Australia.Drug and alcohol review · 2024Review
- Article
- Makeshift medicine is a response to US health system failures.Nature human behaviour · 2023Article
- Implementation of an integrated infectious disease and substance use disorder team for injection drug use-associated infections: a qualitative study.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2023Article
- Integrated Infectious Disease and Substance Use Disorder Care for the Treatment of Injection Drug Use-Associated Infections: A Prospective Cohort Study With Historical Control.Open forum infectious diseases · 2023Article
- 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
- Severe bacterial infections in people who inject drugs: the role of injection-related tissue damage.Harm reduction journal · 2022Article
- Acute pain and self-directed discharge among hospitalized patients with opioid-related diagnoses: a cohort study.Harm reduction journal · 2021Article
- Treatment experiences for skin and soft tissue infections among participants of syringe service programs in North Carolina.Harm reduction journal · 2021Article
- Soft Tissue, Bone, and Joint Infections in People Who Inject Drugs.Infectious disease clinics of North America · 2020Review
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
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundInjection drug use is on the rise in the USA, and skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) are a common complication, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. Due to structural barriers to care-seeking, many people who inject drugs avoid formal care and resort to self-care techniques, but little is known about the nature of these techniques, or more generally about the accuracy or breadth of this population's knowledge of SSTIs.
methodsSemi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 12 people who inject heroin in two metropolitan areas: Sacramento and Boston, USA.
resultsThese interviews reveal a robust and accurate knowledge base regarding skin infections, including the progression from simple cellulitis to an abscess, and acknowledgment of the possibility of serious infections. Nonetheless, there remains a reticence to seek care secondary to past traumatic experiences. A step-wise approach to self-care of SSTI infections was identified, which included themes of whole-body health, topical applications, use of non-prescribed antibiotics, and incision and drainage by non-medical providers.
conclusionsThe reported SSTI self-care strategies demonstrate resilience and ingenuity, but also raise serious concerns about inappropriate antibiotic consumption and complications of invasive surgical procedures performed without proper training, technique, or materials. Harm reduction agencies and health care providers should work to obviate the need for these potentially dangerous practices by improving healthcare access for this population. In the absence of robust solutions to meet the needs of this population, education materials should be developed to optimize the efficacy and minimize the harms of these practices, while empowering and supporting the autonomy of people who use drugs and providing clear guidance on when self-care should be abandoned in favor of formal medical care.
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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.