Quality-adjusted life years among people who inject drugs in a needle syringe program in Sweden

Kåberg, Martin; Larsson, Sofie; Bergström, Jakob; Hammarberg, Anders

doi:10.1007/s11136-022-03209-9

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…But the domains featured by EQ-5D-3L may not be adequate to capture the changes in HRQoL observed by HCV-specific measures such as HCV-PRO [ 37 , 38 ]. Recent evidence also showed that EQ-5D-3L was less suited to detect smaller changes in health in PWID, compared to SF-6D, independent of if current health state was good or bad [ 39 ]. Future research is needed to better validate health utility measures in this population.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health-related quality of life among people who inject drugs in Australia

et al. 2023

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Purpose There is limited research on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among people who inject drugs (PWID). We aimed to evaluate factors associated with HRQoL among a cohort of PWID in Australia. Methods Participants were enrolled in an observational cohort study (the LiveRLife Study) between 2014 and 2018 at 15 sites in Australia. They provided fingerstick whole-blood samples for point-of-care HCV RNA testing and underwent transient elastography to assess liver disease. Participants completed the EQ-5D-3L survey at enrolment. Regression models were used to assess the impact of clinical and socioeconomic characteristics on the EQ-5D-3L scores. Results Among 751 participants (median age, 43 years; 67% male), 63% reported injection drug use in the past month, 43% had current HCV infection, and 68% had no/mild liver fibrosis (F0/F1). The mean EQ-5D-3L and EQ-VAS scores were 0.67 and 62, respectively, for the overall study population. There was no significant difference in the EQ-5D-3L scores among people with and without recent injecting drug use (mean: 0.66 vs. 0.68, median: 0.73 vs. 0.78, P = 0.405), and among people receiving and not receiving opioid agonist therapy (mean: 0.66 vs. 0.68, median: 0.73 vs. 0.76, P = 0.215). Participants who were employed were found to have the highest mean EQ-5D-3L (0.83) and EQ-VAS scores (77). The presence of current HCV infection, liver fibrosis stage, and high-risk alcohol consumption had little impact on HRQoL. Conclusions The study findings provide important HRQoL data for economic evaluations, useful for guiding the allocation of resources for HCV elimination strategies and interventions among PWID.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health-related quality of life among people who inject drugs in Australia

et al. 2023

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“…En person som är gravid eller i behandling får inte hämta eller byta injektionsverktyg. De flesta sprutbyten verkar inte betrakta LARO som behandling i detta fall, utan sprutbytens tolkningar gällde vistelse på behandlingshem eller all behandling inom socialtjänsten (till exempel är en fjärdedel av deltagarna i en studie från sprutbyte i Stockholm patienter på LARO (Kåberg et al 2023)).…”

Section: Att Välja Bort Sprutbytet Eller Att Bli Bortvaldunclassified

Konsten att göra (sprut)utbyten: Sprutbytets betydelse i skärningspunkten mellan politik, yrkespraktik och människors vardagsliv

Nordstedt

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The Art of Needle Exchange: The Significance of Needle Exchange Programs at the Intersection of Politics, Professional Practice, and People's Everyday Lives This doctoral thesis discusses how social meanings are constructed in needle exchange programs. For nearly four decades, Sweden has implemented needle exchange programs to prevent the spread of bloodborne viral infections. However, a restrictive drug policy and resistance to harm reduction efforts have led to limitations in access to these programs, both in terms of geography and through an exclusionary regulatory framework. The effectiveness of needle exchange programs in reducing the risk of infection associated with injection-related behaviour is clearly positive. However, there are limited scientific studies on the more socially oriented meanings of needle exchange programs. With needle exchange programs as a physical and social place, the overarching aim of this thesis is to understand how the creation of social meanings of needle exchanges is achieved through time, space, and social interaction, primarily between the program's visitors and its staff. The empirical material primarily consists of 16 months of ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observations and informal conversations at two needle exchange programs in southern Sweden, as well as in the everyday lives of individuals who visit these programs. Through extensive ethnographic narratives and analyses based on theories of everyday life, resistance, time, and gifts, the thesis demonstrates that needle exchange programs hold multiple meanings created through interactions between visitors and staff. Two concurrent and parallel tracks contribute to understanding what needle exchange programs mean to those who visit them. One track starts with a counterproductive regulatory framework where requirements and rules result in some visitors coming less often than they need to or not at all. The other track involves countless material and relational exchanges that foster positive experiences of the needle exchange program, turning it into a place of social hope and a changed future. One of the thesis's most significant findings concerns the social work that takes place at the needle exchange program in the interactions between visitors and staff. These interactions also occur at the intersection of the norms and hierarchies of the drug world and the Swedish dream of a drug- free society. In the waiting room of the needle exchange program, negotiations are constantly underway to maintain it as a place of hopeful encounters, as opposed to a destructive refuge.

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