@article{ref1,
title="Cessation of injecting and preceding drug use patterns among a prospective cohort of street-involved youth",
journal="Journal of Adolescent Health",
year="2017",
author="Hadland, Scott Evan and Wood, Evan and Nosova, Ekaterina and Kerr, Thomas and Debeck, Kora",
volume="61",
number="5",
pages="612-618",
abstract="PURPOSE: Injection drug use is prevalent among street-involved youth, but patterns of cessation are poorly described. We identified drug use patterns preceding injection cessation among street-involved youth. <br><br>METHODS: From September 2005 to May 2015, we collected data from the At-Risk Youth Study, a prospective cohort of street-involved youth in Vancouver, Canada, and limited the sample to actively injecting youth. The primary outcome was cessation of injecting self-reported at semiannual follow-up visits. We used Cox regression to identify drug use patterns preceding cessation. <br><br>RESULTS: Among 383 youth, 65% were male, mean age was 22.3 (standard deviation, 2.5; range, 15-30) years, and 171 (45%) ceased injecting for 6 months or more (crude incidence density 22 per 100 person-years; 95% confidence interval [CI], 19-26). Youth who ceased were less likely to have injected daily (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR],.40; 95% CI,.28-.56), injected heroin (AHR,.40; 95% CI,.29-.56), or injected crystal methamphetamine (AHR,.43; 95% CI,.31-.59) before cessation. Noninjection heroin use was positively associated with injection cessation (AHR, 1.52; 95 CI, 1.12-2.08). Addiction treatment was not associated with cessation. At the time of cessation, 101 (59%) youth continued to use &quot;hard&quot; noninjection drugs such as heroin and crystal methamphetamine. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Periods of injection cessation were common but frequently accompanied by ongoing noninjection drug use. <br><br>FINDINGS indicate that trajectories of injection drug use among youth are complex and highlight the need to further explore relationships between ongoing noninjection drug use and injection cessation.<br><br>Copyright © 2017 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1054-139X",
doi="10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.05.029",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.05.029"
}