Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
Eur Addict Res. 2010;16(2):91-8. doi: 10.1159/000279767. Epub 2010 Feb 3.
Efforts to prevent youth from initiating injection drug use require an understanding of the drug use patterns that predispose to injecting. Here we identify such patterns and describe the circumstances of first injection among street youth.
From October 2005 to November 2007, data were collected for the At Risk Youth Study, a prospective cohort of 560 street-recruited youth aged 14-26 in Vancouver, Canada. Non-injection drug use behaviors were compared between those with and without a history of injection through multiple logistic regression. The circumstances of first injection were also examined in gender-stratified analyses.
Youth who had previously injected were more likely to have engaged in non-injection use of heroin or of crystal methamphetamine. Daily users of marijuana were less likely to have injected. Among prior injectors, the median age of first injection was lower among females. Females were also more likely to have had a sexual partner present at first injection and to have become a regular injector within one week of initiation.
Preventing transition to injection among street youth may require special attention to predisposing drug use patterns and should acknowledge gender differences in the circumstances of first injection.
预防青少年开始注射吸毒需要了解易导致注射吸毒的用药模式。在此，我们确定了这些模式，并描述了街头青少年首次注射的情况。
2005 年 10 月至 2007 年 11 月期间，对加拿大温哥华的 560 名街头招募的 14-26 岁的高危青少年进行了前瞻性队列研究（At Risk Youth Study），收集了相关数据。通过多项逻辑回归比较了有和无注射史的非注射吸毒行为。还对不同性别进行分层分析，研究了首次注射的情况。
曾注射过毒品的青少年更有可能吸食海洛因或冰毒。大麻的每日使用者更不可能注射。在曾经注射过毒品的人群中，女性首次注射的年龄中位数更低。女性在首次注射时也更有可能有性伴侣在场，并且在开始注射后一周内成为经常注射者。
预防街头青少年向注射吸毒过渡可能需要特别注意易导致注射吸毒的用药模式，并应认识到首次注射情况的性别差异。
