Table 1.
Baseline characteristicsa of street youth who inject drugs stratified by whether they ceased injection at any point during study follow-up: At Risk Youth Study (ARYS), Vancouver, British Columbia, 2005–2015 (n = 383)
| Ceased Injection Drug Useb | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes (%) (n = 171) | No (%) (n = 212) | p Value | |
| Sociodemographic characteristics | |||
| Median age, years (IQR) | 22 (20–24) | 22 (21–24) | 0.769 |
| Gender | |||
| Male | 103 (60.2) | 144 (67.9) | 0.118 |
| Female | 68 (39.8) | 68 (32.1) | |
| Ethnicity | |||
| Caucasian | 126 (73.7) | 150 (70.8) | 0.573 |
| Non-Caucasian | 45 (26.3) | 61 (28.8) | |
| High school educationc | |||
| Yes | 59 (34.5) | 62 (29.3) | 0.281 |
| No | 111 (64.9) | 148 (69.8) | |
| Drug use related factors | |||
| Any heroin use | |||
| Yes | 114 (66.7) | 175 (82.5) | <0.001 |
| No | 57 (33.3) | 37 (17.5) | |
| Any prescription opioid use | |||
| Yes | 55 (32.2) | 97 (45.8) | 0.007 |
| No | 116 (67.8) | 115 (54.2) | |
| Any crystal meth use | |||
| Yes | 116 (67.8) | 162 (76.4) | 0.061 |
| No | 55 (32.2) | 50 (23.6) | |
| Any cocaine use | |||
| Yes | 78 (45.6) | 97 (45.8) | 0.978 |
| No | 93 (54.4) | 115 (54.2) | |
| Any crack use | |||
| Yes | 113 (66.1) | 131 (61.8) | 0.385 |
| No | 58 (33.9) | 81 (38.2) | |
| Mental health related factors | |||
| Mental illness history | |||
| Yes | 104 (60.8) | 138 (65.1) | 0.388 |
| No | 67 (39.2) | 74 (34.9) | |
| Childhood physical or sexual abuse | |||
| Yes | 116 (67.8) | 142 (67.0) | 0.933 |
| No | 45 (26.3) | 54 (25.5) | |
| Depression | |||
| Yes | 75 (43.9) | 105 (49.5) | 0.057 |
| No | 53 (31) | 46 (21.7) | |
| Socioeconomic factors | |||
| Homeless | |||
| Yes | 121 (70.8) | 160 (75.5) | 0.305 |
| No | 49 (28.7) | 51 (24.1) | |
| Living with family | |||
| Yes | 20 (11.7) | 26 (12.3) | 0.865 |
| No | 151 (88.3) | 186 (87.7) | |
| Evicted | |||
| Yes | 18 (10.5) | 25 (11.8) | 0.664 |
| No | 82 (48.0) | 132 (62.3) | |
| Living in the Downtown Eastside | |||
| Yes | 64 (37.4) | 82 (38.7) | 0.802 |
| No | 107 (62.6) | 130 (61.3) | |
| Employed | |||
| Yes | 62 (36.3) | 93 (43.9) | 0.131 |
| No | 109 (63.7) | 119 (56.1) | |
| Loss of income assistance | |||
| Yes | 13 (7.6) | 18 (8.5) | 0.899 |
| No | 108 (63.2) | 157 (74.1) | |
| Accessed health care | |||
| Yes | 133 (77.8) | 166 (78.3) | 0.045 |
| No | 38 (22.2) | 46 (21.7) | |
| Incarcerated | |||
| Yes | 35 (20.5) | 46 (21.7) | 0.792 |
| No | 135 (78.9) | 166 (78.3) | |
| Sex work | |||
| Yes | 27 (15.8) | 31 (14.6) | 0.751 |
| No | 144 (84.2) | 181 (85.4) | |
| Dealt drugs | |||
| Yes | 86 (50.3) | 108 (50.9) | 0.899 |
| No | 85 (49.7) | 104 (49.1) | |
| Prohibited street-based income generating activitiesd | |||
| Yes | 54 (31.6) | 82 (38.7) | 0.149 |
| No | 117 (68.4) | 130 (61.3) | |
| Illegal income generating activitiese | |||
| Yes | 40 (23.4) | 54 (25.5) | 0.638 |
| No | 131 (76.6) | 158 (74.5) | |
aCharacteristics reported at time of study enrollment
bCells do not uniformly add up to column total due to missing values
cPrior completion of or current enrollment in high school
dProhibited street-based income generating activities included panhandling, recycling, and squeegeeing
eIllegal income generating activities included theft, robbing, fraud, and other illegal actives excluding sex work and drug dealing