Evan Wood

..Therefore, we sought to identify the prevalence and correlates of crack pipe sharing among a community-recruited sample of people who use illicit drugs in Vancouver, a setting where crack pipes are provided at low or no cost...

..Regular HIV testing among people who inject drugs is an essential component of HIV prevention and treatment efforts. We explored HIV testing behaviour among a community-recruited sample of injection drug users (IDU) in Bangkok, Thailand...

..Injection drug users (IDUs) are an important population with respect to HIV treatment as prevention because they are often less likely to access HAART in comparison with other risk groups...

..As there is an urgent need to improve responses to antiretroviral therapy among this population, we undertook this study to evaluate the role of physician experience on rates of plasma HIV-1 RNA suppression following initiation of ART...

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..In order to inform epidemiological research and prevention efforts, we conducted a qualitative study to investigate the initiation of injection drug use among street-involved youth in Vancouver, Canada...

..We sought to investigate non-fatal overdose experiences and responses to overdose among a community-recruited sample of injection drug users (IDU) in Bangkok, Thailand...

..These results suggest that HIV infection is having a relatively large impact in Vancouver and that evidence-based prevention and harm reduction strategies should be expanded...

..These findings suggest that novel interventions are needed to address the needs of this subpopulation of IDU...

..However, little is known about incarceration experiences among IDU in the wake of the recent war on drugs. Therefore, we sought to examine incarceration experiences among IDU in Bangkok, Thailand...

..This study sought to examine young people's perspectives regarding the evolution of their drug use in the context of a local drug scene in Vancouver, Canada...

..The objective of this study was to investigate determinants of hospitalization for a CIRI or related infectious complication among a cohort of supervised injection facility (SIF) users...

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..We sought to assess potential relationships between MA use and individual, social, and structural HIV vulnerabilities among sexual minority (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered) drug users...

..We evaluated access and adherence to ART in a long-term cohort of HIV-positive IDU in a setting where medical care and antiretroviral therapy are provided free of charge through a universal healthcare system...

..To examine the relation between plasma HIV-1 RNA concentrations in the community and HIV incidence among injecting drug users...

..60, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.03 - 2.48, p = 0.036). Interventions seeking to address food insecurity among street youth may benefit from considering drug use patterns since methamphetamine use predicted higher risk in this setting...

..We sought to examine the prevalence and correlates of being unable to access addiction treatment in a representative sample of injection drug users randomly recruited from a supervised injection facility...

..Given the increasing use of crack cocaine, we sought to examine whether use of this illicit drug has become a risk factor for HIV infection...

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..Incarceration has been associated with a number of health-related harms among injection drug users (IDU). However, little is known about the prevalence and correlates of incarceration among community-based samples of IDU...

..We assessed the effects of syringe exchange program (SEP) policy on rates of HIV risk behavior and HIV incidence among injection drug users...

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..Although the impact of SSFs in North America can only be quantified by scientific evaluation, these data indicate a potential for public health and community benefits if SSFs were to become available...

..Drug market policing has been associated with various harms among injection drug users (IDU). However, little is known about instances in which drugs and injecting equipment are confiscated from IDU in the absence of a formal arrest...

..These findings suggest that elements of "balanced" drug policies may undermine each other and indicate the need for alternative interventions...

..However, risk factors for CIRI have not been well described in the literature. We sought to characterize the risk factors for current CIRI among individuals who use North America's first supervised injection facility (SIF)...

..We examined the association of methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) adherence and HIV treatment outcomes among a cohort of HIV/HCV co-infected injection drug users (IDUs)...

..Our findings indicate that a sub-population of IDU might benefit from overdose prevention interventions. Our findings refute the suggestion that the SIF may increase the likelihood of overdose...

..Few prospective studies are available on the relationship between incarceration and HIV risk among injection drug users (IDUs). The authors evaluated self-reported rates of syringe sharing and incarceration among a cohort of IDUs...

..We sought to examine whether there were differential rates of HIV incidence among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal injection drug users in a Canadian setting...

..Our results suggest that, if appropriately validated, judicious application of total lymphocyte counts could overcome one of the practical obstacles to more widespread provision of antiretroviral therapy in resource-poor settings...

..To characterize the temporal changes in mortality and life expectancy among HIV-positive individuals initiating antiretroviral therapy in British Columbia, Canada, from 1993 to 2004...

..Also relevant to this topic are interventions to prevent transition into injection drug use, and SSFs may also be evaluated as a potential strategy to address this concern...

..These findings indicate that a clinical trial of prescribed heroin should be able to enroll an appropriate sample of drug users and properly assess the treatment potential of prescribed opiate pharmacotherapy...

..To investigate the incidence and correlates of cocaine injection initiation and the impacts of daily cocaine injection among a cohort of injection drug users...

..The objective of this study was to determine the impact of the emergence of drug-resistance mutations on survival among persons initiating HAART...

..We undertook this study to examine the prevalence of injection drug use and associated risks among street-involved youth in Vancouver, Canada...

..Our findings indicate that nonfatal overdose was common among street-involved youth in our setting, and was associated with various forms of drug use, including methamphetamine use...

..We sought to evaluate the potential impact of incarceration on HIV risk behaviour among the IDU enrolled in a prospective cohort study...

..These findings demonstrate low levels of addiction treatment among Vancouver IDUs and suggest that programs may need to be targeted towards specific populations with poor access...

..79, 95% CI: 1.23-2.62) remained independent predictors of HIV seroconversion. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate the need for interventions to reduce the risk of HIV infection among IDUs who require help injecting...

..However, the impact of incarceration on deterring drug use remains under-evaluated. We sought to explore the relationship between incarceration and patterns of drug use among people who inject drugs (IDU)...

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..The present study was therefore conducted to investigate factors associated with the street-level drug trade involvement among street-based youth...

..71; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-2.70; P=.023). If appropriately confirmed, these findings have important implications for the development of therapeutic guidelines...

..Non-fatal overdose is a major determinant of morbidity among injection drug users (IDU). We sought to evaluate factors associated with non-fatal overdose among IDU in Vancouver...

..In response, a drug user-led harm reduction centre opened in 2004 in an effort to expand reduction programming in Thailand...

..Syringe buyers were more likely to need help injecting, have difficulty finding new syringes, have binged on drugs, and have visited the SEP at least once weekly. Syringe buying most frequently occurred when the SEP was closed...

..5%) received antiretroviral medication >or=75% of the time during their first year receiving therapy. The data demonstrate the need for novel interventions to expand HIV care to specific populations...

..This analysis was conducted to describe the attendance, demographic characteristics, drug use patterns, and referrals made during the first 18 months of operation...

..This study was undertaken to explore injection drug users' experiences and opinions regarding North America's first SIF in Vancouver, Canada...

..The SIS provided a sterile environment for injection drug use without measured negative consequences and demonstrated the feasibility of a peer-driven low-threshold SIS...

..We sought to assess the impact of incarceration on risk factors for HIV infection after release from prison in a sample of active IDU in Vancouver, Canada...

..The programmes initiated in Vancouver demonstrate the positive impact that a comprehensive DOT programme can have on ARV adherence, as well as highlight the challenges that remain...

..These results demonstrate the importance of considering neighborhood variation when developing interventions aimed at reducing drug-related harms among street-involved youth at various levels of street entrenchment...

..85, 95% CI: 3.15-7.47). CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that substantial CD4 gains are possible among highly advanced adherent patients and should contribute to the ongoing debate over the optimal time to initiate HAART...

..To examine whether there were differential rates of hepatitis C virus (HCV) incidence in injecting drug-using youths who did and did not report involvement in survival sex work...

..This is reassuring, given the elevated risk of cervical cancer among this population. Interventions may be required to improve uptake of screening among older injection drug users and drug users infected with hepatitis C...

..Methods: Analysis was based on a cohort of individuals initiating HAART between 1996 and 2001. The primary outcome was hospitalization for one or more days. Survival methods were used to assess the impact of adherence on hospitalization...

..Opposition to needle exchange programs has been fueled by a Vancouver study showing an association between frequent program use and elevated rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among injection drug users...

..We evaluated virological responses to HAART among HIV-1 infected patients who were injection drug users (IDUs) in a population-based setting where HIV/AIDS care is delivered free of charge...

..We evaluated factors associated with jugular injection among a cohort of injection drug users (IDU) in Vancouver, Canada...

..We aimed to estimate the association between plasma HIV-1 viral load, HAART coverage, and number of new cases of HIV in the population of a Canadian province...

..89-1.65; P = 0.232). CONCLUSION: HIV RNA > or = 100 000 copies/ml was only associated with mortality among HIV-infected patients initiating HAART with CD4 cell counts > or= 200 cells/microl if the patients were non-adherent...

..We examined the time to antiretroviral therapy (ART) use among antiretroviral naïve HIV infected injection drug users participating in a prospective cohort study in Vancouver, Canada...

..We sought to investigate the influence of drug use patterns on adherence to antiretroviral therapy and virological suppression among IDUs...

..Our findings point to the need for housing strategies that include safe, low threshold, harm reduction focused housing options for youth who engage in illicit substance use...

..This study was undertaken to examine risk factors for syringe borrowing among a community-recruited sample of Thai IDU...

..To evaluate the prevalence and correlates of non-fatal overdose among a polysubstance-using cohort of injection drug users (IDU) in Vancouver...

..A large-scale police "crackdown" to control illicit drug use in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside provided us with an opportunity to evaluate the effect...

..This risk factor remains poorly understood. The present study investigates this risk factor among Vancouver IDUs...

..While the use of MMT was associated with reductions in heroin use and HIV risk behavior, barriers to Aboriginal IDUs were evident, and the association with increased crack cocaine use deserves further study...

..Without focussing such resources, further HIV and HCV infections and subsequent higher health care costs appear imminent...

..Interventions to reduce syringe sharing among young methamphetamine injectors must address social and structural barriers to accessing HIV prevention programs...

..Commercial sex workers (CSW) are often portrayed as vectors of disease transmission. However, the role clients play in sexual risk taking and related decision making has not been thoroughly characterised...

..To our knowledge, this study is the first to longitudinally evaluate the relationship between food insecurity and unprotected sex among HIV-seropositive people who inject drugs [injection drug users (IDUs)] both on and not on HAART...

..We examined whether methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) increased initiation and adherence to ART among an IDU population with free health care...

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..Despite the widely noted increase in crystal methamphetamine (CM) use, there are few studies on circumstances of first CM use or correlates of use among high-risk populations (e.g. street-involved youth)...

..Safer injection facilities (SIFs) constitute one such intervention, although little is known about the impact of such facilities on factors that mediate risk for overdose...

..We sought to identify factors associated with harmful microinjecting practices in a longitudinal cohort of IDU...

..Our study suggests that the SIF provides an opportunity to coordinate policing and public health efforts and thereby resolve some of the existing tensions between public order and health initiatives...

..Supervised injecting facilities have been proposed as a potential solution, but fears have been raised that they might encourage drug use...

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..We assessed the rate of methadone use in a cohort of opioid injection drug users in Vancouver and investigated whether methadone use was associated with Aboriginal ethnic background...

..We evaluated whether non-immune-based factors such as physician experience and adherence could affect survival among HIV-infected adults starting HAART...

..The findings also suggest that other forms of syringe-exchange programs should consider the benefits of offering fixed site nighttime service...

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..Given that few prospective studies have considered the relationship between sexual activity and syringe sharing, we sought to evaluate syringe sharing among male injection drug users (IDUs) who have sex with men (MSM) in Vancouver...

..The median number of years injecting for youth seroconverting to a secondary infection was 3 years, suggesting that appropriate public health interventions should be implemented immediately...

..Similarities between transient and full virologic responders also appear to be time limited and are often associated with greater cumulative use of antiretroviral therapy by transient virologic responders...

..However, questions remain concerning the effect of MMT in reducing rates of incarceration among IDU. We therefore sought to investigate the long-term effect of MMT on rates of incarceration...

..We sought to qualitatively evaluate experiences with HAART among HIV-positive IDU who had been recently incarcerated within provincial prisons in British Columbia in order to identify factors influencing adherence to treatment...

..As such, it is likely that similar selection factors may explain why our findings contrast with several non-randomized studies showing worse clinical outcomes of patients prescribed nevirapine...

..We sought to characterize the state of nursing SIE practice in Vancouver and prospectively examine SIE among SIF users...

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..Injection cocaine users remain particularly vulnerable to HIV infection and treatment options for cocaine dependency remain woefully inadequate...

..Members of the injection drug community, particularly those who are not taking HAART, experience elevated mortality in comparison with those without a history of drug use...