Wood Evan, Stoltz Jo-Anne, Montaner Julio S G, Kerr Thomas
British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St, Paul's Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver BC V6Z 1Y6, Canada.
Harm Reduct J. 2006 May 24;3:18. doi: 10.1186/1477-7517-3-18.
Many Canadian cities are experiencing ongoing infectious disease and overdose epidemics among injection drug users (IDU). These health concerns have recently been exacerbated by the increasing availability and use of methamphetamine. The challenges of reducing health-related harms among IDU have led to an increased recognition that strategies to prevent initiation into injection drug use must receive renewed focus. In an effort to better explore the factors that may protect against or facilitate entry into injection drug use, the At Risk Youth Study (ARYS) has recently been initiated in Vancouver, Canada. The local setting is unique due to the significant infrastructure that has been put in place to reduce HIV transmission among active IDU. The ARYS study will seek to examine the impact of these programs, if any, on non-injection drug users. In addition, Vancouver has been the site of widespread use of methamphetamine in general and has seen a substantial increase in the use of crystal methamphetamine among street youth. Hence, the ARYS cohort is well positioned to examine the harms associated with methamphetamine use, including its potential role in facilitating initiation into injection drug use. This paper provides some background on the epidemiology of illicit drug use among street youth in North America and outlines the methodology of ARYS, a prospective cohort study of street youth in Vancouver, Canada.
许多加拿大城市的注射吸毒者（IDU）中正在经历持续的传染病和药物过量流行。最近，甲基苯丙胺的可获得性增加和使用增多加剧了这些健康问题。减少IDU中与健康相关危害的挑战导致人们越来越认识到，预防开始注射吸毒的策略必须重新受到关注。为了更好地探索可能预防或促使开始注射吸毒的因素，加拿大温哥华最近启动了高危青年研究（ARYS）。当地的情况很独特，因为已经建立了大量基础设施来减少活跃IDU中的艾滋病毒传播。ARYS研究将试图检验这些项目（如果有的话）对非注射吸毒者的影响。此外，总体而言，温哥华一直是甲基苯丙胺广泛使用的地区，街头青年中冰毒的使用大幅增加。因此，ARYS队列非常适合研究与使用甲基苯丙胺相关的危害，包括其在促使开始注射吸毒方面的潜在作用。本文提供了北美街头青年非法药物使用流行病学的一些背景信息，并概述了ARYS的方法，这是一项对加拿大温哥华街头青年的前瞻性队列研究。
