TY - JOUR
T1 - Would you consider prescribing syringes to injection drug users? Addiction medicine conference survey
AU - Taylor, Lynn E.
AU - Runarsdottir, Valgerdur
AU - Zampi, Amy
AU - Osei, Albert
AU - Sanford, Stephanie
AU - Macalino, Grace
AU - McKenzie, Michelle
AU - Burris, Scott
AU - Gross, Merik
AU - Reinert, Steven E.
AU - Rich, Josiah D.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by grants from the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (1KD1 TI12037-01), the Open Society Institute (282941581), and the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) (10630-26-EG). Mr. Burris is supported by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (037162). Dr. Rich is supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) grant P30-AI-42853 and National Institute on Drug Abuse K20 grant DA00268. This work is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies.
PY - 2003
Y1 - 2003
N2 - In order to assess attitudes and practices of physicians regarding prescribing syringes to injection drug users (IDUs) to prevent disease transmission, a survey was conducted at the 2000 ASAM Conference. Of 497 physicians, 104 responded, representing 30 states and 3 countries. Seventy-eight percent provided care for IDUs. Only 2% had prescribed syringes to IDUs for safer injection of illegal drugs. Nineteen percent had prescribed syringes to diabetic patients whom they believed would use the syringes for injecting illegal drugs. Overall, 61% of physicians (74% of internists, 37% of psychiatrists) (p = 0.04) would consider prescribing syringes to IDUs. Prescribing syringes to IDUs can be part of a comprehensive approach to preventing spread of HIV and other infections, decreasing complications of syringe reuse, and bringing IDUs into medical and substance abuse treatment. The majority of physicians surveyed expressed interest in prescribing syringes. Psychiatrists may be less willing to do so.
AB - In order to assess attitudes and practices of physicians regarding prescribing syringes to injection drug users (IDUs) to prevent disease transmission, a survey was conducted at the 2000 ASAM Conference. Of 497 physicians, 104 responded, representing 30 states and 3 countries. Seventy-eight percent provided care for IDUs. Only 2% had prescribed syringes to IDUs for safer injection of illegal drugs. Nineteen percent had prescribed syringes to diabetic patients whom they believed would use the syringes for injecting illegal drugs. Overall, 61% of physicians (74% of internists, 37% of psychiatrists) (p = 0.04) would consider prescribing syringes to IDUs. Prescribing syringes to IDUs can be part of a comprehensive approach to preventing spread of HIV and other infections, decreasing complications of syringe reuse, and bringing IDUs into medical and substance abuse treatment. The majority of physicians surveyed expressed interest in prescribing syringes. Psychiatrists may be less willing to do so.
KW - HIV/AIDS
KW - Hepatitis B/C
KW - Injection drug users
KW - Physician survey
KW - Syringe prescription
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U2 - 10.1300/J069v22n01_05
DO - 10.1300/J069v22n01_05
M3 - Article
C2 - 12661980
AN - SCOPUS:0345268740
SN - 1055-0887
VL - 22
SP - 67
EP - 78
JO - Journal of Addictive Diseases
JF - Journal of Addictive Diseases
IS - 1
ER -