Persistence of low drug treatment coverage for injection drug users in large US metropolitan areas.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Injection drug users (IDUs) are at high risk for HIV, hepatitis, overdose and other harms. Greater drug treatment availability has been shown to reduce these harms among IDUs. Yet, little is known about changes in drug treatment availability for IDUs in the U.S. This paper investigates change in drug treatment coverage for IDUs in 90 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) during 1993-2002.

Methods

We define treatment coverage as the percent of IDUs who are in treatment. The number of IDUs in drug treatment is calculated from treatment entry data and treatment census data acquired from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, divided by our estimated number of IDUs in each MSA.

Results

Treatment coverage was low in 1993 (mean 6.7%; median

SUBMITTER: Tempalski B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2954979 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature