Table 1.
Characteristics of Public Health – Seattle and King County Needle and Syringe Exchange Program (NSEP) clients, 2009–2017, and Seattle-area National HIV Behavioral Surveillance Injection Drug Use Cycle (NHBS-IDU) participants, 2009–2015
| Characteristic | NSEP Clients 2009–2017 N=2,135 N (%) | NHBS-IDU Participants 2009–2015 N=l,709 N (%) | p-value7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mean [SD] | 37.7 [11.8] | 42.6 [11.5] | <0.01 |
| Gender | 0.01 | ||
| Female | 669 (31.3) | 606 (35.5) | |
| Male | 1,466 (68.7) | 1,103 (64.5) | |
| Men who have sex with men1 | 241 (16.4) | 184 (16.7) | 0.87 |
| White, non-Hispanic | 1,525 (71.7) | 1,044 (61.2) | <0.01 |
| Homeless or unstably housed2 | 1,248 (58.7) | 835 (48.9) | <0.01 |
| Injects drugs daily | 1,419 (67.6) | 1,249 (74.0) | <0.01 |
| Opioid overdose, past year3,4 | 367 (19.4) | 256 (16.1) | 0.01 |
| HIV-infected5 | -- | 119 (7.0) | -- |
| HCV-antibodies6 | -- | 1,027 (70.6) | -- |
Abbreviations: NSEP, Needle and Syringe Exchange program; NHBS, National HIV Behavioral Surveillance; IDU, injection drug use; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus
Restricted to male participants
NSEP survey asked if participants were “homeless or unstably housed,” while NHBS defined being homeless as “living on the street, in a shelter, in a Single Room Occupancy hotel (SRO), or in a car.”
Based on self-report
Restricted to participants reporting any opioid use in the past three months (91% of all NSEP clients, 96% of NHBS participants)
Based on serological confirmatory testing
Based on rapid antibody screening. This was implemented mid-way through the 2009 NHBS cycle, so only 271 (54%) participants were screened that year; in 2012 and 2015, 99% and 97% of participants were screened, respectively.
Based on a t-test for continuous variables and a chi-square test for categorical variables.