Table 1.
Participant characteristics and drug use behavior stratified by previous criminal justice system (CJS) involvement (N = 960).a
| Characteristics | Entire sample N = 96 (%) |
Has past CJS involvement N = 54 (%) |
No past CJS involvement N = 41 (%) |
p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean age (in years) | 28.4 | 31.37 | 24.39 | < .001 |
| Male | 96 (100) | 54 (56.3) | 41 (42.71) | |
| Ethnicity | .96 | |||
| Malay | 92 (95.8) | 52 (96.3) | 39 (95.1) | |
| Chinese | 2 (2.1) | 1 (1.9) | 1 (2.4) | |
| Other | 2 (2.1) | 1 (1.9) | 1 (2.4) | |
| Marital status | .13 | |||
| Married | 22 (22.9) | 11 (20.4) | 11 (26.8) | |
| Widowed | 7 (7.3) | 6 (11.1) | 1 (2.4) | |
| Single | 37 (38.5) | 22 (40.7) | 14 (34.1) | |
| Have a partner, but not married | 27 (28.1) | 12 (22.2) | 15 (36.6) | |
| Education | .75 | |||
| Primary | 7 (7.3) | 3 (5.6) | 3 (7.3) | |
| Lower secondary | 23 (24.0) | 12 (22.2) | 11 (26.8) | |
| Higher secondary or higher | 57 (59.4) | 34 (63) | 23 (56.1) | |
| Higher education | 8 (8.3) | 5 (9.3) | 3 (7.3) | |
| Employment | ||||
| Mean monthly income (RM) | 702.90 | 700.38 | 706.10 | .96 |
| Currently employed | 48 (50) | 24 (44.4) | 24 (58.5) | .22b |
| Mean time in C&C in days | 287 | 336.7 | 226.1 | .07 |
| Self-reported Medical Comorbiditiesb | ||||
| Asthma | 16 (16.7) | 8 (14.8) | 8 (19.5) | .59 |
| Hepatitis C | 9 (9.4) | 8 (14.8) | 1 (2.5) | .07 |
| HIV | 7 (7.3) | 6 (11.1) | 1 (2.5) | < .05 |
| Tuberculosis | 5 (5.2) | 5 (9.3) | 0 (0) | .07 |
| Hepatitis B | 5 (5.2) | 5 (9.3) | 0 (0) | .07 |
| Depression | 3 (3.2) | 2 (3.8) | 1 (2.4) | .50 |
| Ever received an HIV test | 82 (85.4) | 50 (92.6) | 31 (75.6) | < .05 |
| Substances used at least once during lifetimeb | ||||
| Opioids (heroin, opium, codeine, pethadine, morphine) | 50 (52.1) | 41 (75.9) | 8 (19.5) | < .001 |
| Amphetamines (syabu, meth, ice, pilkuda) | 86 (89.6) | 47 (87) | 39 (95.1) | .29 |
| Subutex, suboxone | 16 (16.7) | 13 (24.1) | 3 (19.5) | .05 |
| Alcohol | 58 (60.4) | 38 (70.4) | 19 (46.3) | < .05 |
| Benzos, dormi, somise, clona, apoten, valium, xanax, stilnos, eramin | 18 (18.8) | 14 (25.9) | 4 (9.8) | .06 |
| Ketamine (Vitamin “K”) | 7 (7.4) | 6 (11.3) | 1 (2.4) | .13 |
| Cannabis | 39 (41.5) | 29 (54.7) | 10 (24.4) | < .01 |
| Ketum | 16 (16.8) | 11 (20.8) | 4 (9.8) | .17 |
| Drug of Choice | ||||
| Opioids (heroin, opium, codeine, pethadine, morphine) | 39 (48.6) | 33 (61.1) | 5 (12.2) | |
| Amphetamines (syabu, meth, ice, pilkuda) | 56 (58.3) | 21 (38.9) | 35 (85.4) | |
| Alcohol | 1 (1.04) | 0 (0) | 1 (2.44) | |
| Has ever injected drugsb | 27 (28.1) | 22 (40.7) | 4 (9.8) | < .01 |
| Mean number of days that substances were used in 30 days prior to coming to C & Cb,c | ||||
| Opioids (heroin, opium, codeine, pethadine, morphine) | 20.24 | 20.84 | 17.57 | .56 |
| Amphetamines (syabu, meth, ice, pilkuda) | 9.24 | 8.32 | 10.37 | .43 |
| Subutex, suboxone | 4.06 | 2.69 | 10.0 | .54 |
| Alcohol | 2.97 | 2.26 | 4.53 | .27 |
| Benzos, dormi, somise, clona, apoten, valium, xanax, stilnos, eramin | 4.56 | 3.43 | 8.50 | .35 |
| Ketamine (Vitamin “K”) | 5.29 | 5.00 | 7.00 | .83 |
| Cannabis | 0.69 | 0.66 | 0.80 | .83 |
| Ketum | 4.19 | 2.73 | 8.50 | .57 |
| Mean number of days that substances were used in the past 30 daysb,c | ||||
| Opioids (heroin, opium, codeine, pethadine, morphine) | 0.84 | 1.03 | 0.00 | < .05 |
| Amphetamines (syabu, meth, ice, pilkuda) | 0.84 | 1.36 | 0.18 | .11 |
| Subutex, suboxone | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| Alcohol | 0.14 | 0.08 | 0.26 | .33d |
| Benzos, dormi, somise, clona, apoten, valium, xanax, stilnos, eramin | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| Ketamine (Vitamin “K”) | 1.00 | 1.17 | 0.00 | .65 d |
| Cannabis | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
Boldface indicates p-values that are statistically significant.
a
One person did not respond to the question on previous detention.
b
Significance value was based on Fisher’s Exact Test.
c
The mean number of days was only calculated for those who reported using these drugs during that time period.
d
Significance could not be computed.