ArticleHarm reduction journal2021
Injections and infections: understanding syringe service program utilization in a rural state.
Article in Harm reduction journal, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Impact of harm minimization interventions on reducing blood-borne infection transmission and some injecting behaviors among people who inject drugs: an overview and evidence gap mapping.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2024Pooled it
- Review
- "With a little help from my friends" - collaborating with community experts to improve sampling and obtain a high response rate for a statewide naloxone availability survey.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Willingness to use a mobile syringe service program among people who inject drugs in rural Appalachia.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- Driving Time, Distance, and Cost to Access Syringe Services Programs in the US.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Cost-Effectiveness of Point-of-Care Hepatitis C Virus RNA Testing in the US.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Preferences for harm reduction vending machine design among rural people who use drugs.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2025Article
- Inpatient addiction care is associated with increased vaccinations, medication for opioid use disorder and naloxone prescribing among patients with infective endocarditis in a rural state.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2025Article
- Are we ending the HIV epidemic among persons who inject drugs?: key findings from 19 US cities.AIDS (London, England) · 2025Article
- Discreet but accessible: a qualitative study with people who use drugs and service staff about the optimal design of a harm reduction vending machine in rural Kentucky.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Estimating the Cost-Saving Threshold of a Rural Syringe Services Program Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.AIDS and behavior · 2025Article
- Injection-Related Infections and Self-treatment Practices Among People Who Inject Drugs in Rural Appalachia.Open forum infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Bilateral valvular involvement in infective endocarditis: A clinically distinct entity? A multicenter retrospective study.PloS one · 2025Article
- Experiencing Housing Instability in Rural North America and Access to Health Care and Supportive Services: A Scoping Review.Journal of health care for the poor and underserved · 2025Article
- Navigating Hepatitis C care: Knowledge gaps and access barriers among young women who inject drugs in rural Appalachia.PloS one · 2025Article
- Racialized environments and syringe services program implementation: County-level factors.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Article
- Economic evaluation of the effect of needle and syringe programs on skin, soft tissue, and vascular infections in people who inject drugs: a microsimulation modelling approach.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Syringe reuse among people who inject drugs in rural Appalachian Kentucky.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Article
- Substance use patterns, sociodemographics, and health profiles of harm reduction service recipients in Burlington, Vermont.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Use of Syringe Service Programs in Rural vs Urban Maine: A Harm-Reduction Study.Journal of Maine Medical Center · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIncreasing rates of injection drug use (IDU) associated-infections suggest significant syringe service program (SSP) underutilization. Our study objective was to assess practices of safe injection techniques and to determine predictors of SSP utilization in a rural state. PATIENTS AND
methodsThis was a fifteen-month cross-sectional study of participants hospitalized with IDU-associated infections in Maine. Data were collected through Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview survey and medical record review. Descriptive analyses were performed to characterize demographics, health characteristics, and injection practices. The primary outcome was SSP utilization, and the main independent variable was self-reported distance to SSP. Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated SSP utilization, controlling for gender, homelessness, history of overdose, having a primary care physician and distance to SSP.
resultsOf the 101 study participants, 65 participants (64%) reported past 3 month SSP utilization, though only 33% used SSPs frequently. Many participants (57%) lived more than 10 miles from an SSP. Participants who lived less than 10 miles of an SSP were more likely to use an SSP (adjusted odds ratio 5.4; 95% CI 1.9-15.7).
conclusionsOur study highlights unsafe injection practices and lack of frequent SSP utilization among people admitted with IDU-associated infections in a rural state. Especially given increasing stimulant use, these results also highlight the need for SSP access. Particularly in rural areas where patients may live more than 10 miles from an SSP, expansion of harm reduction services, including mobile units, should be a priority.
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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.