Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34798883›Full record

ArticleHarm reduction journal2021

The impact of Taiwan's implementation of a nationwide harm reduction program in 2006 on the use of various illicit drugs: trend analysis of first-time offenders from 2001 to 2017.

Wei J Chen, Chi-Ya Chen, Shang-Chi Wu, Kevin Chien-Chang Wu, Susyan Jou, Yu-Chi Tung, Tzu-Pin Lu

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

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 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Wei J ChenInstitute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 17 Xu-Zhou Road, Taipei, 100, Taiwan. wjchen@ntu.edu.tw.ORCID 0000-0001-5899-5870
Chi-Ya ChenInstitute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 17 Xu-Zhou Road, Taipei, 100, Taiwan.
Shang-Chi WuInstitute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 17 Xu-Zhou Road, Taipei, 100, Taiwan.
Kevin Chien-Chang WuDepartment of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Susyan JouGraduate School of Criminology, National Taipei University, New Taipei, Taiwan.
Yu-Chi TungDepartment of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Tzu-Pin LuInstitute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 17 Xu-Zhou Road, Taipei, 100, Taiwan.
National Taiwan University · TWNational Health Research Institutes · TWNational Taipei University · TW

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAfter implementing a nationwide harm reduction program in 2006, a dramatic decline in the incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among people with injection drug use (IDU) was observed in Taiwan. The harm reduction program might have sent out the message discouraging the choice of IDU among illicit drug users in early stage. Based on the yearly first-time offense rates from 2001 to 2017, this study aimed to examine (1) whether the nationwide implementation of the harm reduction program in 2006 led to changes in first-time offenders' use of heroin; (2) whether the intervention had a similar effect on the use of other illicit drugs; and (3) whether the effect of the intervention was limited to the first-time offenders of young age groups.

methodsYearly first-time illicit-drug offense rates from 2001 to 2017 in Taiwan were derived from two national databases for drug arrests that were verified using urine tests: the Criminal Record Processing System on Schedule I/II Drugs and the Administrative Penalty System for Schedule III/IV Substances. A hierarchy of mutually exclusive categories of drug uses was defined by the drug with the highest schedule level among those tested positive in an arrest. Segmented regression analyses of interrupted time series were used to test for the impact of the 2006 intervention.

resultsThere was a decrease of 22.37 per 100,000 in the rate for heroin but no detectable level changes in that for methamphetamine or ecstasy after the 2006 intervention in Taiwan. There were baseline decreasing trends in the first-time offense rate from 2001 to 2017 for heroin and ecstasy and an increasing trend for methamphetamine, with the slopes not altered by the 2006 intervention. The postintervention decrease in the first-time offense rate for heroin was detectable among offenders less than 40 years old.

conclusionsOur results indicate a diffusion effect of the 2006 intervention on decreasing heroin use among young offenders and have policy implications for better prevention and treatment for different age groups.

Indexed as

CriminalsIllicit DrugsMethamphetamineAdultHarm ReductionHumansTaiwanIllicit DrugsMethamphetamineDiffusion effectHarm reductionHeroinInjection drug useInterventionSegmented regression analysisTime trend

Identifiers

PMID34798883
PMCPMC8603590
OpenAlexW3213192938

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Registered trials

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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.