ArticleThe American journal of drug and alcohol abuse2020
Effect of witnessing an overdose on the use of drug checking services among people who use illicit drugs in Vancouver, Canada.
Article in The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
What it found
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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
10 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Utilization of drug checking services in Austria: a cross-sectional online survey.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Exploring trauma and wellbeing of people who use drugs after witnessing overdose: A qualitative study.The International journal on drug policy · 2023Article
- Characteristics of Individuals Witnessing Drug Overdoses in Canada.Journal of general internal medicine · 2023Article
- Insights from Drug Checking Programs: Practicing Bootstrap Public Health Whilst Tailoring to Local Drug User Needs.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Article
- A mixed-methods analysis of risk-reduction strategies adopted by syringe services program participants and non-syringe services program participants in New York City.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- Overdose Experiences among People Who Inject Drugs in West Virginia: Personal Loss, Psychological Distress, Naloxone, and Fentanyl.Substance use & misuse · 2023Article
- A Realist Review of How Community-Based Drug Checking Services Could Be Designed and Implemented to Promote Engagement of People Who Use Drugs.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- The Bronze Age of drug checking: barriers and facilitators to implementing advanced drug checking amidst police violence and COVID-19.Harm reduction journal · 2022Article
- Cohort Profile: The Collaborating Consortium of Cohorts Producing NIDA Opportunities (C3PNO).International journal of epidemiology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSince 2013, fentanyl-contaminated drugs have been driving North America's opioid-overdose epidemic. Drug checking, which enables people who use illicit drugs (PWUD) to test and receive feedback regarding the contents of their drugs, is being considered as a potential tool to address the toxic drug supply. While some PWUD witness overdoses, little is known about the impact of these experiences on subsequent risk reduction practices.
objectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine the effect of witnessing an overdose on drug checking service use.
methodsData were derived from prospective cohorts of PWUD in Vancouver, Canada, a setting with a community-wide fentanyl overdose crisis, between June 1, 2018 and December 1, 2018. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the effect of witnessing an overdose on drug checking service use.
results1,426 participants were eligible for the study, including 530 females; 767 (53.8%) participants reported witnessing an overdose and 196 (13.7%) reported using drug checking services in the last 6 months. In multivariable analyses, after adjusting for a range of confounders including the use of fentanyl, witnessing an overdose was positively associated with drug checking service use (adjusted odds ratio = 2.32; 95% confidence interval: 1.57-3.49).
conclusionOur findings suggest that witnessing an overdose may motivate PWUD to use drug checking services. Given that only a small proportion of PWUD in the study reported using drug checking services, our findings highlight the need to continue to scale-up a range of overdose prevention interventions.
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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.