Observational studyBMC health services research2025
Considerations for equitable distribution of digital healthcare for people who use drugs.
Observational study in BMC health services research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05794984 (Targeted Focus Groups Discussions), which is not on this map. Cited by 4 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.
Targeted Focus Groups Discussions (FGDs) and Cross-sectional Questionnaire to Address Questions Regarding Telemedicine Concept and Knowledge, and Social Media Usage Among People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) in Greece
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- From Innovation to Impact: The CREATE Framework as a Blueprint for Large Language Model Adoption in Opioid Treatment Programs.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Findings from the Process Evaluation of a Mobile Health Clinic Designed to Improve Equity of Access to Primary Healthcare for People with Substance Use Disorders and/or Homelessness in One Region in the North East of England, UK.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Long-Term Benefits Following Hepatitis C Cure Through Facilitated Telemedicine; Experiences of People With Opioid use Disorder Five Years After Achieving a Sustained Virological Response.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Article
- Telehealth Disparities in Outpatient Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Treatment among Medicaid Beneficiaries during COVID-19.Substance use & misuse · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTelehealth holds the potential to expand healthcare access for people who use drugs (PWUD). However, limited data exist on their digital infrastructure access, a prerequisite for telehealth participation. We studied digital healthcare accessibility among PWUD.
methodsWe employed respondent-driven sampling to recruit 162 PWUD in Athens, Greece to assess current internet and computer access and telemedicine experience via a structured questionnaire. Participants were at least 18 years with an injection drug use (IDU) history. We utilized logistic regression to evaluate sociodemographic associations.
resultsParticipants' mean (SD) age was 45.9 (8.8) years, 84.0% were male, 90.1% Greek, 77.8% reported IDU within the past year, 85.2% were not linked to opioid treatment, and 50.0% were experiencing homelessness. Only 1.9% had telemedicine experience. Internet and computer access were reported by 66.0% and 31.5%, respectively. Most (77.9%) used mobile phones for internet access. Compared to participants with secure housing, those experiencing homelessness reported decreased internet (50.6% vs. 81.5%, p < 0.001) and computer access (11.1% vs. 51.9%, p < 0.001). Multivariable analyses revealed that older age (per 1-year increase: OR = 0.94, 95% CI [0.89, 0.99], p = 0.03)), IDU within the past year (0.29 [0.10, 0.88], p = 0.03), and homelessness (0.29, [0.13, 0.65], p = 0.003) were associated with lower odds of internet access.
conclusionsTwo-thirds of PWUD accessed the internet, mainly via mobile phones, while only one-third gained access through a computer. Very few PWUD used telemedicine. Homelessness, recent IDU, and older age may further limit digital infrastructure access and should be considered when designing equitable digital healthcare solutions for PWUD.
trial registrationRegistered on ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT05794984, Protocol: STUDY00007088, Date: 2023-04-03).
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