TY - JOUR
T1 - Food access among people who inject drugs in West Virginia
AU - Rouhani, Saba
AU - Allen, Sean T.
AU - Whaley, Sara
AU - White, Rebecca Hamilton
AU - O’Rourke, Allison
AU - Schneider, Kristin E.
AU - Kilkenny, Michael E.
AU - Weir, Brian W.
AU - Sherman, Susan G.
N1 - Funding Information:
SR and KES are supported National Institute on Drug Abuse (5T32DA007292). STA is also supported by the National Institutes of Health (K01DA046234). SGS is supported by the Johns Hopkins University Center for AIDS Research (1P30AI094189). This research was facilitated by infrastructure and resources provided by the Johns Hopkins University Center for AIDS Research, an NIH funded program [P30AI094189] and the District of Columbia Center for AIDS Research, an NIH funded program [P30AI117970]. The funding sources had neither impact nor involvement in the preparation of this report.
Funding Information:
We thank the Cabell-Huntington Health Department for their collaboration on this project, and are especially grateful to Thommy Hill, Tyler Deering, Kathleen Napier, Jeff Keatley, Michelle Perdue, Chad Heilig, and Charles “CK” Babcock for their support. We would like to thank the West Virginia COUNTS! Research team: Megan Keith, Anne Maynard, Aspen McCorkle, Terrance Purnell, Ronaldo Ramirez, Kayla Rodriguez, Lauren Shappell, Kristin Schneider, Brad Silberzahn, Dominic Thomas, Kevin Williams, and Hayat Yusuf. We acknowledge the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, without whose support this study would not have been possible. We also wish to thank Josh Sharfstein, Michelle Spencer, Dori Henry, and Akola Francis for their support throughout each phase of the study. Above all, we are grateful to our study participants for their time and insights.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Background: The substance use epidemic in the United States continues to drive high levels of morbidity and mortality, particularly among people who inject drugs (PWID). Poor access to food often co-occurs with drug use and contributes to associated sequelae, such as risks for HIV and diabetes. The objective of this study was to examine factors associated with adequate food access among PWID in a rural Appalachian community. Methods: Cross-sectional surveys were used to collect data among PWID aged 18 and older in Cabell County, West Virginia. Frequency of hunger and sociodemographic, structural and drug use characteristics were measured. Adequate food access was defined as reporting ‘never’ going to bed hungry at night in the past six months. Pearson’s χ2 and t-tests and multivariable logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with food access. Results: Only 71 individuals (17%) reported never going to bed hungry at night in the past six months. Adjusted odds of having adequate food access were higher among PWID who completed high school (aOR 2.94; P = 0.010) and usually used drugs alone (aOR 1.97; P = 0.025), and lower among PWID who were female (aOR 0.51; P = 0.037), experienced homelessness (aOR 0.23, P < 0.001), were recently arrested (aOR 0.50 P = 0.047), and engaged in receptive sharing of injection equipment (aOR 0.52, P = 0.035). Conclusions: We found extremely low food access in a population of PWID in Appalachia who are vulnerable to overdose and infectious disease transmission. Integrated interventions promoting food access are needed to improve the public health and wellbeing of people who inject drugs in Appalachia.
AB - Background: The substance use epidemic in the United States continues to drive high levels of morbidity and mortality, particularly among people who inject drugs (PWID). Poor access to food often co-occurs with drug use and contributes to associated sequelae, such as risks for HIV and diabetes. The objective of this study was to examine factors associated with adequate food access among PWID in a rural Appalachian community. Methods: Cross-sectional surveys were used to collect data among PWID aged 18 and older in Cabell County, West Virginia. Frequency of hunger and sociodemographic, structural and drug use characteristics were measured. Adequate food access was defined as reporting ‘never’ going to bed hungry at night in the past six months. Pearson’s χ2 and t-tests and multivariable logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with food access. Results: Only 71 individuals (17%) reported never going to bed hungry at night in the past six months. Adjusted odds of having adequate food access were higher among PWID who completed high school (aOR 2.94; P = 0.010) and usually used drugs alone (aOR 1.97; P = 0.025), and lower among PWID who were female (aOR 0.51; P = 0.037), experienced homelessness (aOR 0.23, P < 0.001), were recently arrested (aOR 0.50 P = 0.047), and engaged in receptive sharing of injection equipment (aOR 0.52, P = 0.035). Conclusions: We found extremely low food access in a population of PWID in Appalachia who are vulnerable to overdose and infectious disease transmission. Integrated interventions promoting food access are needed to improve the public health and wellbeing of people who inject drugs in Appalachia.
KW - Drug overdose
KW - Food access
KW - Hunger
KW - Injection drug use
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U2 - 10.1186/s12954-021-00536-x
DO - 10.1186/s12954-021-00536-x
M3 - Article
C2 - 34419045
AN - SCOPUS:85113259216
VL - 18
JO - Harm Reduction Journal
JF - Harm Reduction Journal
SN - 1477-7517
IS - 1
M1 - 90
ER -