To better understand patterns of drug use trajectories over time, it is essential to have standard measures of change. Our goal here is to introduce measures we developed to quantify change in drug use behaviors. A secondary goal is to provide effective visualizations of these trajectories for applied use. We analyzed data from a sample of 92 older drug users (ages 45 to 65) to identify transit...

BACKGROUND To estimate the prevalence of problem drug use (PDU) and injecting drug use (IDU) in Luxembourg and analyze trends between 1997 and 2009. To assess the feasibility of prevalence estimations based on drug use surveillance systems. METHODS Serial multi-method PDU/IDU prevalence estimations based upon capture-recapture, Poisson regression, multiplier and back-calculation methods. Comp...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate an active case-finding strategy among drug users (DUs), economically disadvantaged individuals and recent immigrants from hyperendemic countries, a population at high risk of developing tuberculosis (TB). METHODS Retrospective, observational study carried out by the Tuberculosis Unit of the City of Barcelona from September 2009 to December 2012. All participants underwen...

The Independence Initiative is a Merseyside wide but Sefton based relapse prevention service that deals with clients who are recovering from drug misuse problems. We focus solely on one-to-one interaction in order to provide specifically tailored action plans for our clients. We provide a wide range of interventions including counselling, pre-vocational training, complementary therapies and inf...

BACKGROUND In this study, the prevalence of HIV-1 CRF01_AE intrasubtype recombinants in China is estimated and their contributions to the epidemic are explored. METHODS Available HIV-1 complete genomes of CRF01_AE were retrieved from the HIV database. The two alignments were evaluated with RDP3. Recombinants were defined as cases in which the recombination signal was supported by at least 3 m...

In a cross-validated study, when marijuana users were asked to reference marijuana experiences exclusively, absorption scores (reflecting trait capacity for total attentional involvement) increased over a standard administration. The increase could not be accounted for by a culturally stereotyped response pattern, the demand characteristics of the testing situation, or effects of repeated admin...

BACKGROUND There is a large controversy in the literature about the inter-relations between perceived risk, knowledge, and risk behavior in different settings, and people at HIV risk are not an exception. AIM To assess additive and multiplicative effect of perceived HIV risk and HIV knowledge on sexual risk behavior of Injecting Drug Users (IDUs). METHOD We enrolled 162 street based IDUs to...

This is the first of a series of publications to inform drug service planning and provision by presenting results from the Department of Health’s Black and minority ethnic drug misuse needs assessment project that was conducted throughout England in three phases during 2000-2001, 2004-2005, and 2006. This project employed the Centre for Ethnicity and Health’s Community Engagement Model to train...

Greece and Romania reported an increased number of HIV cases among injecting drug users (IDUs) during 2011. Most European countries reported no changes in the rate of newly diagnosed cases of HIV or HIV prevalence in IDUs; however, six countries did report increases and several additional countries reported increases in injecting risk indicators or low coverage of prevention services. These ind...