Mobile Phone and Internet use among People who Inject Drugs: Implications for Mobile Health Interventions

Abstract

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) interventions have the potential to improve substance use treatment engagement and outcomes, and to reduce risk behaviors among people who inject drugs (PWID). However, there are few studies assessing mobile technology use among PWID and none have investigated continuity of mobile phone use. Methods: We surveyed 494 PWID. We used bivariate (independent-sample t- and chi-square tests) and multivariate (logistic regression) analyses to determine whether mobile phone and/or internet use differed as a function of participant- and/or injection-related characteristics. Results: Most participants (77%) had a mobile phone, with 67% having a phone that was free of charge. Participants with a phone were significantly less likely to be homeless (AOR = 0.28), to have shared syringes (AOR = 0.53), and to have reused syringes (AOR = 0.26) in the past 3 months. We observed high rates of phone and number turnover, with more than half reporting that they got a new phone (57%) and/or number (56%) at least once within the past 3 months. Most participants were familiar with using the internet (80% ever use), though participants who had ever used the internet were younger (AOR = 0.89), were less likely to be homeless (AOR = 0.38), were less likely to have shared syringes (AOR = 0.49), and were more likely to have injected methamphetamine by itself (AOR = 2.49) in the past 3 months. Conclusions: Overall, mobile technology and internet use was high among our sample of PWID. Several factors should be considered in recruiting diverse samples of PWID to minimize bias in mHealth study outcomes, including mobile phone access and protocol type (text- vs internet-based).

Mobile phone ownership, digital technology use and acceptability of digital interventions among individuals on opioid use disorder treatment in Kenya

“…This is similar to findings of the study among youth whereby 48% had smartphones ( 37 ) and high mobile phone penetration in the general population ( 21 , 23 ). This is also consistent with other studies where phone ownership among individuals with OUD ranges between 77%–89% ( 28 , 33 , 34 ). Access to other digital technologies was lower with 25% and 30% reporting access to computer and internet respectively.…”

“…There was a high phone turnover with 57.2% reporting to have changed phone at least once in past year mainly due to phones getting lost and stolen which is a pattern common in individuals with SUD ( 28 , 31 , 33 , 34 ). This implies a potential challenge when assessing the effectiveness of an intervention over a follow up period.…”

“…For example, a study in United Kingdom among patients in four community treatment facilities reported prevalence of 83% (28); four studies in the United States of America-one among individuals with injection drug use, another among patients at a detoxification Centre, one at an intensive outpatient treatment facility and another at eight SUD treatment centres report prevalence of 66.2%, 86%, 93.8% and 91% respectively (18,(29)(30)(31). Individuals with SUD also report access to other digital technology such as computers, internet and social media and willingness to receive SUD treatment using these platforms (30,(32)(33)(34). Majority of the participants in these studies accessing digital interventions report that the interventions are helpful and easy to use (14, 35).…”

Development of a digital platform to improve community response to overdose and prevention among harm reduction organizations

“…This community-academic partnership is a strong example of developing harm reduction-oriented digital platforms that prioritizes Further, creating overdose data collection tools designed for people who use drugs that provide an added benefit or incentive for reporting may be another effective pathway to improve data. A recent study found that approximately 77% of people who inject drugs have a mobile phone and of those with a mobile phone, 88% have a smart phone with voice and internet service [25]. Future studies should incorporate people who use drugs in a co-design process to solve this problem and develop a solution that preserves trust, protects the population, and improves overdose data.…”

LSD use in the United States: Examining user demographics and their evolution from 2015-2019

“…Working cell phone access is known to be low in some groups who use drugs (Ozga et al 2022), but has not been explored with LSD use, so this variable was added. Finally, since parenthood is associated with decreased substance use (Fergusson, Boden, and John Horwood 2012), but also has not been investigated with LSD use, variables on the number of children under 18 years of age in the home and current pregnancy were incorporated into the models.…”