ArticleJournal of the American Pharmacists Association : JAPhA
Examining nonprescription syringe sales in Massachusetts and Rhode Island community pharmacies.
Article in Journal of the American Pharmacists Association : JAPhA. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sterile syringe availability in Georgia pharmacies remained rare, despite policy change permitting sales.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- "I go out of my way to give them an extra smile now:" A study of pharmacists who participated in Respond to Prevent, a community pharmacy intervention to accelerate provision of harm reduction materials.Research in social & administrative pharmacy : RSAP · 2024Article
- Come back when you're infected: pharmacy access to sterile syringes in an Arizona Secret Shopper Study, 2023.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Study protocol for the Respond to Prevent Study: a multi-state randomized controlled trial to improve provision of naloxone, buprenorphine and nonprescription syringes in community pharmacies.Substance abuse · 2022Article
- Self-injection experiences among transgender people on injectable gender-affirming hormone therapy: A narrative review.Journal of the American Pharmacists Association : JAPhAReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe role pharmacies play in addressing the opioid crisis and drug-related risks such as injection drug use is evolving. Estimating the prevalence of injection drug use at the community level is challenging because of the stigma of drug use. Many community pharmacies sell nonprescription sterile syringes; thus, pharmacy-level sales of injection equipment may be an indicator of drug-related harms and unmet needs of high-risk populations.
objectivesTo describe, compare, and assess the convergent validity of staff-reported nonprescription syringe (NPS) sales volume and NPS administrative sales data from community pharmacies in Massachusetts (MA) and Rhode Island (RI).
methodsThis study employed both prospective cross-sectional survey data collection and utilization of administrative pharmacy sales data. Between November 2017 and January 2018, we administered a telephone-based survey to estimate average weekly NPS type and volume for 191 chain pharmacies (CVS Health) located in communities experiencing fatal opioid overdoses above the state's 2015 annual median rate. For the same time period, we obtained NPS sales data from surveyed pharmacies and all CVS Health pharmacies in the 2 states. We calculated Spearman correlations to assess convergence of average weekly volume between pharmacy staff reports and sales data.
resultsAll pharmacies responded to the survey. Most (98.4%) pharmacies surveyed sold NPS, but 42.0% reported running out of stock monthly or more frequently. Pharmacy staff tended to under-report syringe sales. Staff-reported weekly NPS sales volume was 67,922 versus 70,962 syringes from administrative pharmacy sales data. Spearman correlation between reported and actual NPS sales was 0.40 (95% CI 0.27-0.51).
conclusionThe counts of administrative pharmacy syringe sales data in MA and RI indicate high need, substantial volume, and notable access at community pharmacies. Future research should use NPS sales data rather than self-report data to track emerging trends and tailor local responses.
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Registered trials
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