ArticleHarm reduction journal2020
A qualitative study of facilitators and barriers to participate in a needle exchange program for women who inject drugs.
Article in Harm reduction journal, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Global coverage of interventions to prevent and manage drug-related harms among people who inject drugs: a systematic review.The Lancet. Global health · 2023Pooled it
- Contraceptive and condom use among women from key populations in Myanmar.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- "I Know So Many Women That Have the Same Story as Mine": Exploring How the Increase of Benzodiazepines in the Unregulated Drug Supply Shapes Experiences of Gender-Based Violence Among Women and Gender Minorities in Vancouver, BC.Contemporary drug problems · 2026Article
- Willingness to use a mobile syringe service program among people who inject drugs in rural Appalachia.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- Gender and power dynamics in three types of injection partnerships among young women in rural Appalachia.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- Let the girls know, "you can come here": qualitative experiences with harm reduction and health services among women who use drugs in Chicago.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- "He will still know where I live": harm reduction for women who use drugs and experience Gender-Based violence.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- Optimal provision of opiate substitution therapy and needle and syringe programmes: a multi-method realist evaluation.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025Article
- Negotiating Care and Control: Women's Experiences of Two Harm Reduction Services in Copenhagen.Sociology of health & illness · 2025Article
- Challenging the Continued Usefulness of Social Media Recruitment for Surveys of Hidden Populations of People Who Use Opioids.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Gender-based factors associated with hepatitis C testing in people who inject drugs: results from the French COSINUS cohort.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Fostering Safety, Support, and Hope: A Qualitative Study of Multistakeholder Perspectives on Designing Health Care Services for Women Who Use Drugs in Seattle, Washington, 2023.Women's health reports (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- An evolutionary concept analysis: stigma among women living with hepatitis C.BMC public health · 2024Article
- "In Sweden you are worthless. In Denmark you get an identity again" - on being perceived and received as a person who uses drugs in different drug policy settings.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Sex and gender differences in hepatitis C virus risk, prevention, and cascade of care in people who inject drugs: systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2024Article
- "I don't think of it as a shelter. I say I'm going home": a qualitative evaluation of a low-threshold shelter for women who use drugs.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Gender and Drug Use Discrimination Among People Who Inject Drugs: An Intersectional Approach Using the COSINUS Cohort.International journal of women's health · 2024Article
- Development of a systematic social observation tool for monitoring use of harm reduction supplies.The International journal on drug policy · 2023Article
- Sweden's first Take-Home Naloxone program: participant characteristics, dose endpoints and predictors for overdose reversals.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2023Article
- HCV serostatus and injection sharing practices among those who obtain syringes from pharmacies and directly and indirectly from syringe services programs in rural New England.Addiction science & clinical practice · 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
7 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWomen who inject drugs (WWID) show higher levels of injecting risk behaviour compared to men, putting them at risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis C (HCV). Compared to men, WWID are also less present in harm reduction programs such as needle exchange programs (NEP). The aim of this study is to investigate reasons for, and barriers to, participation in NEP among WWID in Sweden, and to identify measures that could be taken to strengthen the program and increase participation among WWID.
methodIn-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted with 20 WWID who had participated in the Stockholm NEP for at least six months and was over 18 years old. IDIs were audio recorded and transcribed et verbatim. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify themes.
resultsThe need for sterile injection equipment was identified as the main driver to join and remain in the NEP program. Continuous participation in the NEP was further driven by easy access to a multitude of health-related services. The most valued service was the sexual and reproductive health services (SRHR), allowing participants to access contraceptives, cervical cancer screening and sexually transmitted infections testing (STI-testing). NEP staffs' respectful treatment of participants further contributed to program participation. However, participants also expressed a number of concerns around NEP participation, which created barriers to joining. These included losing custody or visitation rights to children, male partner jealousy and violence, unwillingness to spend time in the waiting area and fear of receiving positive HIV/HCV test results. Practical barriers included limited opening hours and travel distance to the NEP. To strengthen the program, most participants requested additional SRHR services. Most participants also proposed some form of "women only" access to the NEP, to strengthen the feeling of the NEP as a safe space.
conclusionThis study identified factors that may increase uptake of NEP among WWID. Additional SRHR services and "women only" access are recommended to be implemented and evaluated as part of NEP. These findings may inform and improve the current scale-up of NEPs in Sweden to ensure equal access to services.
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