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Estimated number of people who injected drugs in the United States, 2018
Public health data signal increases in the number of people who inject drugs (PWID) in the United States during the past decade. An updated PWID population size estimate is critical for informing interventions and policies aiming to reduce injection-associated infections and overdose, as well as to provide a baseline for assessments of pandemic-related changes in injection drug use.
A modified multiplier approach was used to estimate the number of adults who injected drugs in the United States in 2018. The authors determined the estimated number of nonfatal overdose events among PWID from 2 of previously published estimates: the number of injection-involved overdose deaths and the meta-analyzed ratio of nonfatal to fatal overdose. The number of nonfatal overdose events was divided by prevalence of nonfatal overdose among current PWID for a population size estimate.
Using transparent, replicable methods and largely publicly available data, the authors provided the first update to the number of people who inject drugs in the United States in nearly 10 years. Findings suggest the population size of PWID has substantially grown in the past decade and that prevention services for PWID should be proportionally increased.
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Publication type: Other (Prevalence)
Publication date: 2023
Intended population: Persons who inject drugs (PWID)
Key outcomes: Estimated prevalence of injection drug use
Bradley, H., Hall, E., Asher, A., Furukawa, N., Jones, C. M., Shealey, J., Buchacz, K., Handanagic, S., Crepaz, N., & Rosenberg, E. (2023). Estimated number of people who injected drugs in the United States, 2018. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 76(1), 96-102. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciac543