Citation

Milloy MJ, Fairbairn N, Hayashi K, Suwannawong P, Kaplan K, Wood E, Kerr T. Harm Reduct. J. 2010; 7: 9.

Affiliation

British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St, Paul's Hospital, 667-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6Z 1Y6, Canada. uhri-tk@cfenet.ubc.ca.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/1477-7517-7-9

PMID

20465842

PMCID

PMC2880311

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Although previous studies have identified high levels of drug-related harm in Thailand, little is known about illicit drug overdose experiences among Thai drug users. We sought to investigate non-fatal overdose experiences and responses to overdose among a community-recruited sample of injection drug users (IDU) in Bangkok, Thailand. METHODS: Data for these analyses came from IDU participating in the Mit Sampan Community Research Project. The primary outcome of interest was a self-reported history of non-fatal overdose. We calculated the prevalence of past overdose and estimated its relationship with individual, drug-using, social, and structural factors using multivariate logistic regression. We also assessed the prevalence of ever witnessing an overdose and patterns of response to overdose. RESULTS: These analyses included 252 individuals; their median age was 36.5 years (IQR: 29.0 - 44.0) and 66 (26.2%) were female. A history of non-fatal overdose was reported by 75 (29.8%) participants. In a multivariate model, reporting a history of overdose was independently associated with a history of incarceration (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 3.83, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.52 - 9.65, p = 0.004) and reporting use of drugs in combination (AOR = 2.48, 95% CI: 1.16 - 5.33, p = 0.019). A majority (67.9%) reported a history of witnessing an overdose; most reported responding to the most recent overdose using first aid (79.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Experiencing and witnessing an overdose were common in this sample of Thai IDU. These findings support the need for increased provision of evidence-based responses to overdose including peer-based overdose interventions.

Language: en