ReviewInternational journal of environmental research and public health2022
A Realist Review of How Community-Based Drug Checking Services Could Be Designed and Implemented to Promote Engagement of People Who Use Drugs.
Review in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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
21 citing papers in PubMed, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interpol review of forensic drug chemistry, 2022-2025.Forensic science international. Synergy · 2026Review
- Drug sellers' use of a drug checking service amid the overdose crisis in British Columbia, Canada.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Article
- Street drug monitoring with networked spectrometers powered by machine learning: a pilot study in Ontario, Canada.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- Real time, on-site drug checking in low-threshold housing communities.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- 'It'd Be Nice to Know if You're About to Have Drain Cleaner': A Qualitative Study of Preferred Drug Checking Service Features to Inform the Design of CheQpoint, Queensland's First Fixed-Site Drug Checking Service.Drug and alcohol review · 2025Article
- Understanding Drug and Alcohol Staff Perspectives on the Barriers and Facilitators to Drug Checking: A Qualitative Study.Drug and alcohol review · 2025Article
- Characteristics of take-home fentanyl test strip use and support for drug checking services among people who use heroin in Australia: learnings for an increasingly complex drug market.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Welfare first: transforming harm reduction at UK festivals.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Utilization of drug checking services in Austria: a cross-sectional online survey.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- An implementation science study of a campus-based drug checking service at a Canadian university.PloS one · 2025Article
- Implementation opportunities and challenges to piloting a community-based drug-checking intervention for sexual and gender minority men in Vancouver, Canada: a qualitative study.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Beyond a spec: assessing heterogeneity in the unregulated opioid supply.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Planning and implementing community-based drug checking services in Scotland: a qualitative exploration using the consolidated framework for implementation research.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2024Article
- Comment on Rose et al.: the need for responsible collection and reporting of demographic data in drug checking research.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Associations between opioid overdose deaths and drugs confiscated by law enforcement and submitted to crime laboratories for analysis, United States, 2014-2019: an observational study.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2023Article
- 'It's not going to be a one size fits all': a qualitative exploration of the potential utility of three drug checking service models in Scotland.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- Insights from Drug Checking Programs: Practicing Bootstrap Public Health Whilst Tailoring to Local Drug User Needs.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Point-of-care community drug checking technologies: an insider look at the scientific principles and practical considerations.Harm reduction journal · 2023Review
- Co-designing drug alerts for health and community workers for an emerging early warning system in Victoria, Australia.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- Handheld Raman Spectroscopy in the First UK Home Office Licensed Pharmacist-Led Community Drug Checking Service.International journal of environmental research and public health · 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
13 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
With rising numbers of drug-related deaths in the UK and globally, exploration of interventions that seek to reduce drug-related harm is essential. Drug checking services (DCS) allow people to submit drug samples for chemical analysis and receive feedback about the sample, as well as harm reduction advice. The use of DCS is often linked to festival and/or nightlife settings and to so-called 'recreational' drug use, but research has also shown the potential of community-based DCS as an intervention serving more varied demographics of people who use drugs, including more marginalised individuals and those experiencing drug dependence. Whilst there is a growing evidence base on the effectiveness of drug checking as a harm reduction intervention, there is still limited evidence of the underlying mechanisms and processes within DCS which may aid implementation and subsequent engagement of people who use drugs. This presents a challenge to understanding why engagement differs across types of DCS, and how best to develop and deliver services across different contexts and for different populations. To explore the contexts and mechanisms which impact engagement in community-based DCS, a realist review was undertaken to synthesise the international evidence for the delivery and implementation of DCS. There were 133 sources included in the review. From these sources the underlying contexts, mechanisms, and outcomes relating to DCS implementation and engagement were developed and refined into seven programme theories. The findings of this review are theoretically novel and hold practical relevance for the design of DCS, with implications for optimisation, tailoring, and implementing services to reach individuals in different settings.
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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.