Data for this study were drawn from two open prospective cohort studies of PWUD in Vancouver, Canada: the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study (VIDUS) and the AIDS Care Cohort to evaluate Exposure to Survival Services (ACCESS). Both cohorts have been described in detail in previous literature [24 (
link), 27 (
link)]. However, to briefly summarize, these cohorts have been recruiting participants through community-based methods, including street outreach, self-referral, and word of mouth since May of 1996. VIDUS includes adults (18 years and older) who are HIV-negative and have injected unregulated drugs within the month prior to their enrolment. ACCESS participants are HIV-positive adults who used any unregulated substance (other than or in addition to cannabis) within the month prior to their enrolment. Participants in the VIDUS cohort who HIV seroconvert after their enrolment are transferred to the ACCESS cohort. All participants provided written informed consent at enrolment and ethics has been approved by Providence Health Care/University of British Columbia’s Research Ethics Board. Both cohorts use harmonized study protocols to facilitate pooled analyses.
At baseline and at 6-month intervals afterwards, participants complete interviewer- and nurse-led questionnaires and provide blood samples for serology, as well as urine for drug screening. The questionnaire covers a variety of topics including demographics, substance use, healthcare access, and socio-structural exposures. To compensate participants for their involvement, participants receive a $40 CAD stipend for every study visit.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all in-person data collection was suspended between March 2020 and July 2020. After July 2020, infection control measures were put in place to resume data collection. Participant interviews were completed over telephone or videoconferencing. Study-owned cell phones and private spaces were loaned to those who required them. They were then able to pick up their cash honoraria in person or have it e-transferred if they had access to a bank account.
Between March and July of 2020, study questionnaires were modified to include questions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. One of these questions was used to assess the primary outcome of this study, which read as follows: “Has the frequency of your use of these sites [i.e., SCS/OPS] changed since the beginning of the public health emergency?”. The outcome was dichotomized using the following responses: “I use them less” vs. “I use them more” or “My use stayed the same”. Potential correlates were identified based on past studies that assessed SCS access among PWUD [8 (
link), 25 (
link)], and included: age (per year older), self-identified gender (man vs. woman/other), ethnicity/ancestry (white vs. Black, Indigenous, and people of colour), education (high school or greater vs. other), employment (yes vs. no), residence in Downtown Eastside neighbourhood in Vancouver (yes vs. no), daily non-medical prescription opioid use (yes vs. no), daily cocaine use (yes vs. no), daily crystal methamphetamine use (yes vs. no), daily non-injection crack-cocaine use (yes vs. no), benzodiazepine use (yes vs. no), suspected that a drug used contained fentanyl (yes vs. no), used drugs alone (yes vs. no), engagement in opioid agonist therapy (yes vs. no), non-fatal overdose (yes vs. no), witnessed an overdose (yes vs. no), experience physical violence (yes vs. no), syringe/ drug use equipment sharing (yes vs. no), inability to access treatment (yes vs. no), unstable housing (yes vs. no), sex work (yes vs. no), incarceration (yes vs. no), jacked up (this refers to being stopped, searched, or detained) by the police (yes vs. no), cohort/ HIV status (ACCESS vs. VIDUS), ever tested positive for COVID-19 (yes vs. no), concern about COVID-19 on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 indicating greatest concern (1–5 vs. 6–10), any chronic health conditions (yes vs. no), and ease of accessing SCS/OPS changed since COVID-19 (same vs. easier vs. harder). All drug use and behavioral variables refer to the 6 months prior to questionnaire date unless otherwise indicated.
Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to assess the associations between the correlates of interest and reduced frequency of SCS/OPS use since COVID-19. Correlates of interest with a univariable
p-value < 0.10 were included in a backward elimination procedure, with the least significant variable removed at each step until the lowest Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) was achieved. All
p-values were two-sided and all statistical analyses were conducted using SAS version 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, North Carolina, United States).
Gubskaya E., Kennedy M.C., Hayashi K., Cui Z., Milloy M.J, & Kerr T. (2023). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to supervised consumption programs. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 18, 16.