Table 1.
Bivariate analysis of serological testing results, sociodemographic characteristics, drug use characteristics, and connections to and perceptions about Mexico associated with recent cross-border injection drug use among people who inject drugs residing in San Diego (N=567)
| Variable | Total N=567 n (%) |
Recent cross-border IDU
|
Unadjusted Odds Ratio (95% CI) | p- value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No N=481 n (%) |
Yes N=86 n (%) |
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|
| |||||
| Serological testing | n=5451 | n=460 | n=85 | ||
|
| |||||
| HIV seropositive2 | 51 (9) | 44 (10) | 7 (8) | 0.85 (0.37–1.95) | 0.699 |
|
| |||||
| HCV seropositive2 | 358 (66) | 302 (66) | 56 (66) | 1.01 (0.62–1.65) | 0.967 |
|
| |||||
| Socio-demographic characteristics | |||||
|
| |||||
| Age, Median (IQR) | 45 (33– 52) | 45 (35– 53) | 38 (27– 49) | 0.96 (0.95–0.98) | <0.001 |
|
| |||||
| Sex | |||||
| Female | 148 (26) | 130 (27) | 18 (21) | 1 | |
| Male (incl. transgender) | 419 (74) | 351 (73) | 68 (79) | 1.40 (0.80–2.44) | 0.237 |
|
| |||||
| Country of Birth | |||||
| USA | 531 (94) | 448 (93) | 83 (97) | 1 | |
| Other | 36 (6) | 33 (7) | 3 (3) | 0.49 (0.15–1.64) | 0.247 |
|
| |||||
| Identify as Hispanic or Latino/a2 | 177(31) | 156 (32) | 21 (24) | 0.67 (0.40–1.14) | 0.141 |
|
| |||||
| Marital status | |||||
| Single/never married | 308 (54) | 254 (53) | 54 (63) | 1 | |
| Married/common law/other3 | 259 (56) | 227 (47) | 32 (37) | 0.66 (0.41–1.06) | 0.088 |
|
| |||||
| Highest level of school completed | |||||
| Grade 11 or below | 361 (64) | 308 (64) | 53 (62) | 1 | |
| Grade 12 or higher | 206 (36) | 173 (36) | 33 (38) | 1.11 (0.69–1.78) | 0.669 |
|
| |||||
| Income amount (last 12m) | |||||
| <$10,000 | 384 (68) | 330 (69) | 54 (63) | 1 | |
| ≥$10,000 | 181 (32) | 149 (31) | 32 (37) | 1.31 (0.81–2.12) | 0.265 |
|
| |||||
| Main income source (last 6m) | |||||
| Employed with regular salary | 77 (14) | 65 (14) | 12 (14) | 1 | |
| Public assistance/disability | 149 (26) | 131 (27) | 18 (21) | 0.74 (0.34–1.64) | 0.463 |
| Selling drugs/running drugs/touting | 35 (6) | 27 (6) | 8 (9) | 1.60 (0.59–4.37) | 0.354 |
| Other | 302 (54) | 255 (53) | 47 (55) | 1.00 (0.50–1.99) | 0.996 |
|
| |||||
| Homeless (last 6m)2 | 345 (61) | 288 (60) | 57 (66) | 1.32 (0.81–2.13) | 0.263 |
|
| |||||
| Ever incarcerated in U.S.2 | 512 (90) | 434 (91) | 78 (91) | 0.94 (0.43–2.09) | 0.886 |
|
| |||||
| Arrested (last 6m)2 | 154 (27) | 123 (26) | 31 (36) | 1.63 (1.00–2.64) | 0.050 |
|
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| Drug use characteristics | |||||
|
| |||||
| Age at first injection, Median (IQR) | 20 (17– 26) | 20 (17– 26) | 20 (17– 24) | 0.96 (0.93–0.99) | 0.016 |
|
| |||||
| Duration of injecting, Median (IQR) | 20 (9– 32) | 21 (10– 32) | 16 (6–30) | 0.99 (0.97–1.00) | 0.091 |
|
| |||||
| Typically injected ≥ daily (last 6m)2 | 316 (56) | 265 (56) | 51 (60) | 1.19 (0.75–1.91) | 0.459 |
|
| |||||
| Injected heroin ≥ daily (last 6m)2 | 212 (39) | 174 (38) | 38 (45) | 1.36 (0.85–2.17) | 0.201 |
|
| |||||
| Injected MA ≥ weekly (last 6m)2 | 221 (40) | 182 (39) | 39 (46) | 1.30 (0.82–2.08) | 0.263 |
|
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| Injected cocaine ≥ weekly (last 6m)2 | 18 (3) | 11 (2) | 7 (8) | 3.76 (1.41–10.00) | 0.008 |
|
| |||||
| Heroin/cocaine co–injection (last 6m)2 | 91 (19) | 73 (18) | 18 (22) | 1.25 (0.70–2.24) | 0.448 |
|
| |||||
| Heroin/MA co-injection (last 6m)2 | 110 (24) | 81 (21) | 29 (37) | 2.21 (1.32–3.73) | 0.003 |
|
| |||||
| Ever prescribed opioid substitution therapy2 | 134 (24) | 109 (23) | 25 (31) | 1.50 (0.89–2.52) | 0.125 |
|
| |||||
| Perceived heroin price increase (last 6m)2 | 84 (20) | 68 (19) | 16 (23) | 1.19 (0.64–2.21) | 0.582 |
|
| |||||
| Perceived heroin purity decrease (last 6m)2 | 263 (46) | 212 (63) | 51 (71) | 1.41 (0.81–2.45) | 0.226 |
|
| |||||
| Perceived MA price increase (last 6m)2 | 106 (25) | 93 (26) | 13 (20) | 0.71 (0.37–1.36) | 0.297 |
|
| |||||
| Perceived MA purity decrease (last 6m)2 | 250 (44) | 212 (58) | 38 (58) | 0.98 (0.58–1.66) | 0.939 |
|
| |||||
| Connections to and perceptions about Mexico | |||||
|
| |||||
| Years lived in San Diego, Median (IQR) | 25 (12– 40) | 27 (13– 42) | 17 (8–28) | 0.97 (0.95–0.98) | <0.001 |
|
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| Proficient in Spanish (spoken)2 | 162 (29) | 138 (29) | 24 (28) | 0.96 (0.58–1.60) | 0.882 |
|
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| Ever lived in Mexico 2 | 137 (25) | 94 (20) | 43 (50) | 4.01 (2.48–6.48) | <0.001 |
|
| |||||
| Have family and/or friends in Mexico2 | 205 (36) | 151 (32) | 54 (63) | 3.64 (2.26–5.87) | <0.001 |
|
| |||||
| Know at least one PWID who lives in Mexico1 | 161(30) | 107 (23) | 54 (64) | 5.71 (3.49–9.34) | <0.001 |
|
| |||||
| Know at least one person from San Diego who has bought or used drugs in Mexico2 | 383 (76) | 312 (74) | 71 (87) | 2.32 (1.18–4.53) | 0.014 |
|
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| Have a current passport2 | 68 (12) | 53 (11) | 15 (17) | 1.70 (0.91–3.18) | 0.097 |
|
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| Read/heard media about drug-related violence in Mexico (past 6m)2 | 419 (79) | 345 (77) | 74 (86) | 1.82 (0.95–3.49) | 0.070 |
|
| |||||
| Concerned about risk of violence when travelling to Mexico2 | 256 (51) | 220 (53) | 36 (42) | 0.66 (0.41–1.05) | 0.082 |
|
| |||||
| Familiar with Mexican drug law reform2,4 | 10 (2) | 6 (1) | 4 (5) | 3.67 (1.00–13.46) | 0.050 |
1
Excludes 22 participants who did not complete testing;
2
Yes vs. no;
3
Other includes separated, divorced and widowed participants;
4
Question added part-way through baseline data collection–denominator includes 232 participants coded as ‘question not asked’ (data not shown)
Missing data excluded.
Abbreviations: IQR = Interquartile Range; MA = methamphetamine; PWID = people who injects drugs