ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2023
Increased solitary drug use during COVID-19: An unintended consequence of social distancing.
Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Witnessed overdose history and response among overdose survivors who use non-prescribed opioids in an overdose prevention trial.Addictive behaviors · 2026Trial
- Socioenvironmental disasters and the dialectics of overdose mortality.The International journal on drug policy · 2026Article
- "Once I started going… I had this central wheel hub": Drivers of overdose prevention center engagement and connections to care in Rhode Island.The International journal on drug policy · 2026Article
- "I Know So Many Women That Have the Same Story as Mine": Exploring How the Increase of Benzodiazepines in the Unregulated Drug Supply Shapes Experiences of Gender-Based Violence Among Women and Gender Minorities in Vancouver, BC.Contemporary drug problems · 2026Article
- Spatializing Substance Use and Sexual Behaviors of Queer Men and Non-binary Individuals During COVID-19.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- Feasibility and Acceptability of Restroom Motion Sensors for Detecting Overdoses.Substance use & addiction journal · 2026Article
- Changes in drug-use behaviors among people who use drugs with comorbid psychiatric disorders across the COVID-19 pandemic: a three-phase longitudinal cohort study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Stability and Volatility in the Contextual Predictors of Working-Age Mortality in the United States.Journal of health and social behavior · 2025Article
- Changes in Drug-Induced Hospitalisations and Deaths During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia.Drug and alcohol review · 2025Article
- "It's something we're connected to": Acceptability and adoption of overdose detection technologies implemented in San Francisco permanent supportive housing.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2025Article
- Law Enforcement Drug Seizures and Opioid-Involved Overdose Mortality.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Improving racial/ethnic health equity and naloxone access among people at risk for opioid overdose: A simulation modeling analysis of community-based naloxone distribution strategies in Massachusetts, United States.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Assessment of knowledge and behaviors of an opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution program during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Navigating the COVID-19 Risk Environment, Overdose Prevention, and Self Care Practices of People Who Use Illicit Opioids in New York City.Substance use & misuse · 2025Article
- Article
- Perspectives of key interest groups regarding supervised Consumption sites (SCS) and novel virtual harm reduction services / overdose response hotlines and applications: a qualitative Canadian study.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- 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
- A simple heuristic for allocating opioid settlement funding to reduce overdose mortality in the United States.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2024Article
- Evaluation of Strategies to Enhance Community-Based Naloxone Distribution Supported by an Opioid Settlement.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Bridging the Gap in Harm Reduction Using Mobile Overdose Response Services (MORS) in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, overdose rates substantially increased in the United States. One possible contributor to this phenomenon may be solitary drug use resulting from social distancing efforts to prevent COVID-19 transmission.
methodsWe surveyed 458 people who use drugs (PWUD) who were recruited from harm reduction and drug treatment providers located in nine states and the District of Columbia. We assessed if solitary drug use had increased since the start of COVID-19. Associations between increased solitary drug use and sociodemographic characteristics, drug use characteristics, and COVID-19 prevention behaviors were examined using multiple logistic regression.
resultsHalf the sample identified as men (52.7%), White (49.7%), and single (49.3%). The average age was 43.2 (SD:11.8) years. Two-thirds (66.8%) recently injected drugs. 44% reported increased solitary drug use since COVID-19. Significant correlates of increased solitary drug use included being single (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR]=1.99, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.33, 2.98), increasing drug use (aOR=2.74, 95% CI: 1.72, 4.37), using more in private locations (aOR=1.91, 95% CI: 1.34, 2.72), and social distancing behaviors (aOR=1.31, 95% CI: 1.11, 1.54). Experiencing homelessness (aOR=0.45, 95% CI: 0.31, 0.65) and identifying as a sexual minority (aOR=0.53, 95% CI: 0.31, 0.93) were associated with being less likely to increase solitary drug use.
conclusionsSolitary drug use increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Increases in solitary drug use, in the context of a drug market increasingly permeated by fentanyl, indicates an urgent need for comprehensive harm reduction interventions to reduce overdose mortality.
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