ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2021
The health and social consequences during the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic among current and former people who inject drugs: A rapid phone survey in Baltimore, Maryland.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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
35 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Assessing coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic impacts on the health of people who inject drugs using a novel data sharing model.AIDS (London, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Understanding the Impacts of Novel Coronavirus Outbreaks on People Who Use Drugs: A Systematic Review to Inform Practice and Drug Policy Responses to COVID-19.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Substance use and mental health before versus during COVID-19 pandemic among persons who inject drugs with HCV infection history-the HERO study.Harm reduction journal · 2026Trial
- Impact of Pandemic-Induced Service Disruptions and Behavioral Changes on Hepatitis C Virus and HIV Transmission Amongst People Who Inject Drugs: A Modeling Study.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Structural and social changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic and their impact on engagement in substance use disorder treatment services: a qualitative study among people with a recent history of injection drug use in Baltimore, Maryland.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Prevalence and correlates of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity among people who inject drugs in Baltimore, Maryland.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2023Article
- A Scoping Review on the Effects of COVID-19 on Syringe Service Programs in the United States.Cureus · 2023Article
- "It's just a perfect storm": Exploring the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on overdose risk in British Columbia from the perspectives of people who use substances.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Temporal association of pre-pandemic perceived social support with psychological resilience and mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic among people with a history of injection drug use.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2023Article
- Opiate maintenance patients' attitudes and self-reported adherence to protective measures against SARS-CoV-2 infections.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Health-related quality of life and recovery capital among recovery residents taking medication for opioid use disorder in Texas.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Prevalence and correlates of using opioids alone among individuals in a residential treatment program in Michigan: implications for overdose mortality prevention.Harm reduction journal · 2022Article
- Impact of SARS-CoV-2 lockdown on expansion of HIV transmission clusters among key populations: A retrospective phylogenetic analysis.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2022Article
- Factors associated with self-reported avoidance of harm reduction services during the COVID-19 pandemic by people who use drugs in five cities in the United States and Canada.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2022Article
- A stakeholder-driven framework for measuring potential change in the health risks of people who inject drugs (PWID) during the COVID-19 pandemic.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Article
- "Maintaining HIV and HCV prevention and care for people who inject drugs despite COVID-19 in Hai Phong, Vietnam".The International journal on drug policy · 2022Article
- Use of COVID-19 testing in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic among cohorts of people at the intersection of drug use and HIV.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2022Article
- Study protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial to increase COVID-19 testing and vaccination among people who inject drugs in San Diego County.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2022Article
- "COVID just kind of opened a can of whoop-ass": The rapid growth of safer supply prescribing during the pandemic documented through an environmental scan of addiction and harm reduction services in Canada.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Article
- A qualitative study exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) and drug service provision in the UK: PWID and service provider perspectives.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThere is limited data on the health and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic among people who inject drugs (PWID).
methodsWe conducted a rapid telephone survey from April-June 2020 among participants of the community-based AIDS Linked to the IntraVenous Experience (ALIVE) cohort study in Baltimore, Maryland. This interviewer-administered survey collected information on COVID-19 knowledge, symptoms, testing, diagnosis, and prevention behaviors, recent substance use, housing conditions, interruptions to healthcare, access to harm reduction and drug treatment, mental health, and social support.
resultsOf 443 current and former PWID who participated in the survey, 36 % were female, 85 % were Black, 33 % were living with HIV and 50 % reported any substance use in the prior six months. COVID-19 awareness was high, but knowledge of symptoms and routes of transmission were lower. PWID reporting recent substance use were less likely to always socially distance (63 % vs. 74 % among those without recent use, p = 0.02), and Black PWID were more likely than non-Black to socially distance (73 % vs. 48 %, p < 0.0001) and use when alone (68 % vs.35 %, p < 0.01). Only 6% reported difficulty accessing healthcare, yet only 48 % of those on opioid-agonist treatment had a four-week supply available. While 34 % reported increased depressive symptoms, participants reported high levels of social support.
conclusionsThis rapid assessment highlighted that PWID currently using drugs may be less able to practice social distancing and increased SARS-CoV-2 transmission may occur. Ongoing monitoring of substance use and mental health, as well as overdose prevention is necessary as the pandemic and public health responses continue.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.