Can a participant-referred 'study buddy' increase retention of rural people who use drugs in research? A multi-site, randomized trial.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

To test the efficacy of a participant-referred "study buddy" intervention compared with standard retention strategies in retaining rural people who use drugs (PWUD) in longitudinal research.

Design

Multi-site, two-arm, randomized controlled trial.

Setting

Rural counties in Ohio, Oregon, and Kentucky, USA.

Participants

People enrolled in the Peer-based Retention Of people who Use Drugs in Rural Research (PROUD-R²) study who were 18 years or older, resided in the study area, and used opioids or injected any drug to get high in the past 30 days between August 2020 and August 2022. Participants (n = 739) were 42% female, mostly White (89%) and non-Hispanic (96%), unstably housed (57%), and reported lifetime injection drug use (93%). The most common

SUBMITTER: Young AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12828707 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature