Changes in supervised drug-injecting practices following a community-based educational intervention: A longitudinal...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Infectious Disease Prevention
• Harm Reduction Strategies

Background:

• People who inject drugs (PWID) are at high risk for various health issues due to unsafe injecting practices.
• Harm reduction (HR) facilities play a crucial role in mitigating these risks.
• Evaluating interventions to improve injecting practices is essential for public health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a face-to-face educational intervention on supervised drug-injecting practices.
• To identify specific changes in injecting behaviors following the educational program.

Main Methods:

• A pre-post analysis was conducted in 8 HR facilities in France (2011-2013) as part of the ANRS-AERLI study.
• The intervention involved face-to-face educational sessions with direct observation, counseling, and discussion.
• Injecting practices were documented using a checklist and classified as safe or unsafe before and after the intervention.

Main Results:

• Participants showed significant improvements in setting up a clean preparation area (AOR=3.4) and hand washing (AOR=7.2).
• Enhanced skin cleaning (AOR=5.6), choice of safe injection sites (AOR=6.5), and post-injection bleeding management (AOR=12.8) were observed.
• Participants were less likely to lick needles (AOR=8.1) and perform booting/flushing (AOR=2.5) after the intervention.

Conclusions:

• The face-to-face educational intervention (AERLI) demonstrated effectiveness in promoting safer drug-injecting practices.
• The findings suggest that targeted educational programs can lead to measurable improvements in harm reduction behaviors.
• This intervention offers a promising strategy for reducing health risks among people who inject drugs.