Harris Miriam T H, Bagley Sarah M, Maschke Ariel, Schoenberger Samantha F, Sampath Spoorthi, Walley Alexander Y, Gunn Christine M
Boston University School of Medicine/Boston Medical Center, Department of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine, 801 Massachusetts Ave, Second Floor, Boston, MA 02118, United States of America; Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit, Grayken Center for Addiction, 801 Massachusetts Ave, Second Floor, Boston, MA 02118, United States of America.
Boston University School of Medicine/Boston Medical Center, Department of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine, 801 Massachusetts Ave, Second Floor, Boston, MA 02118, United States of America; Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit, Grayken Center for Addiction, 801 Massachusetts Ave, Second Floor, Boston, MA 02118, United States of America; Boston University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of General Academic Pediatrics, 801 Massachusetts Ave, Second Floor, Boston, MA 02118, United States of America.
J Subst Abuse Treat. 2021 Jun;125:108313. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108313. Epub 2021 Jan 27.
Standard public health approaches to risk communication do not address the gendered dynamics of drug use. The aim of this study was to explore perceptions of fentanyl-related risks among women and men to inform future risk communication approaches.
We conducted a qualitative study, purposively sampling English-speaking women and men, aged 18-25 or 35+ years, with past 12-month illicitly manufactured fentanyl use. In-depth individual interviews explored experiences of women and men related to overdose and fentanyl use. We conducted a grounded content analysis examining specific codes related to overdose and other health or social risks attributed to drug use. Using a constant comparison technique, we explored commonalities and differences in themes between women and men.
The study enrolled twenty-one participants, 10 women and 11 men. All participants had personal overdose experiences. Both women and men described overdosing as a "chronic" condition and expressed de-sensitization to the risk of overdose. Women and men described other risks around health, safety, and state services that often superseded their fear of overdose. Women feared physical and sexual violence and prioritized caring for children and maintaining relations with child protective services, while men feared violence arising from obtaining and using street drugs and incarceration. Only women reported that fear of violence prevented their utilization of harm reduction services.
Experiences with overdose and risk communication among people who use fentanyl-containing opioids varied by gender. The development of gender-responsive programs that address targeted concerns may be an avenue to enhance engagement with harm reduction and treatment services and create safe spaces for women not currently accessing available services.
标准的公共卫生风险沟通方法未涉及吸毒的性别动态。本研究的目的是探索女性和男性对芬太尼相关风险的认知，以为未来的风险沟通方法提供参考。
我们开展了一项定性研究，有目的地抽取年龄在18 - 25岁或35岁以上、过去12个月曾非法制造芬太尼的讲英语的女性和男性作为样本。深入的个人访谈探讨了女性和男性与过量用药及芬太尼使用相关的经历。我们进行了扎根内容分析，研究与过量用药以及归因于吸毒的其他健康或社会风险相关的具体编码。使用持续比较技术，我们探索了女性和男性在主题上的共性与差异。
该研究招募了21名参与者，10名女性和11名男性。所有参与者都有个人过量用药经历。女性和男性都将过量用药描述为一种“慢性”状况，并表示对过量用药风险脱敏。女性和男性描述了健康、安全及国家服务方面的其他风险，这些风险常常超过了他们对过量用药的恐惧。女性担心身体暴力和性暴力，并将照顾孩子以及与儿童保护服务机构维持关系列为优先事项，而男性则担心获取和使用街头毒品引发的暴力以及被监禁。只有女性报告称对暴力的恐惧阻碍了她们利用减少伤害服务。
使用含芬太尼阿片类药物者的过量用药经历和风险沟通因性别而异。制定针对特定问题的性别敏感项目可能是增强对减少伤害和治疗服务的参与度，并为目前未使用现有服务的女性创造安全空间的一条途径。
