Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of OAT initiators, stratified by OAT engagement trajectory, Vancouver, British Columbia, 2005–2018.
| Characteristics | Total (N = 438) | OAT engagement trajectory groups, n (%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consistently low (n = 102) | Increasing (n = 114) | Decreasing (n = 66) | Consistently high (n = 156) | ||
| Socio-demographics | |||||
| Age (median, IQR) | 42 (35,48) | 42 (33,49) | 42 (35,49) | 43 (36,49) | 42 (36,48) |
| Male sex | 269 (61.4) | 64 (62.8) | 72 (63.2) | 42 (63.6) | 91 (58.3) |
| White race | 196 (44.8) | 40 (39.2) | 49 (43.0) | 33 (50.0) | 74 (47.4) |
| Comorbidities | |||||
| HIV-positive | 151 (34.5) | 31 (30.4) | 37 (32.5) | 25 (37.9) | 58 (37.2) |
| History of mental illness | 234 (53.4) | 60 (58.8) | 62 (54.4) | 38 (57.6) | 74 (47.4) |
| Substance use-related factorsa | |||||
| ≥ Daily non-medical opioid use | 426 (97.3) | 100 (98.0) | 109 (95.6) | 64 (97.0) | 153 (98.1) |
| High-risk drinking | 34 (7.8) | 8 (7.8) | 11 (9.7) | 6 (9.1) | 9 (5.8) |
| ≥ Daily crack use | 142 (32.4) | 30 (29.4) | 41 (36.0) | 20 (30.3) | 51 (32.7) |
| ≥ Daily cannabis use | 80 (18.3) | 16 (15.7) | 23 (20.2) | 10 (15.2) | 31 (19.9) |
| Recent non-fatal overdose | 32 (7.3) | 7 (6.9) | 11 (9.7) | 3 (4.6) | 11 (7.1) |
| OAT characteristics | |||||
| OAT initiation ≥ 2014 | 72 (16.4) | 25 (24.5) | 15 (13.2) | 7 (10.6) | 25 (16.0) |
| Type of OAT | |||||
| Methadone-based | 411 (93.8) | 96 (94.1) | 103 (90.4) | 64 (97.0) | 148 (94.9) |
| Buprenorphine-based | 11 (2.5) | 4 (3.9) | 3 (2.6) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (2.6) |
| Other (slow- release oral morphine, injectable diacetylmorphine) | 16 (3.7) | 2 (2.0) | 8 (7.0) | 2 (3.0) | 4 (2.6) |
| Other structural-level factorsa | |||||
| Unmet health or social needs | 95 (21.7) | 26 (25.5) | 21 (18.4) | 14 (21.2) | 34 (21.8) |
| Homelessness | 160 (36.5) | 31 (30.4) | 47 (41.2) | 24 (36.4) | 58 (37.2) |
| Employment | 83 (19.0) | 23 (22.6) | 24 (21.1) | 17 (25.8) | 19 (12.2) |
| Incarceration | 58 (13.2) | 17 (16.7) | 10 (8.8) | 7 (10.6) | 24 (15.4) |
IQR, interquartile range; OAT, opioid agonist therapy.
a
Refers to the six-month period prior to the baseline interview