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Language of Resource
Full Text Available
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
Peer Reviewed
Objective
Polysubstance use (PSU) is common among people who use opioids (PWUO) and has been associated with drug-related harms. We aimed to identify latent longitudinal PSU classes among a cohort of PWUO and characterize non-fatal overdose risks among different sub-classes over time.
Findings/Key points
2627 PWUO were included in the analysis, and 1094 (41.6 %) had experienced at least one non-fatal overdose during the study period. RMLCA revealed five distinct latent longitudinal PSU classes, including low/infrequent use (Class 1; 30 %), primarily opioid and methamphetamine use (Class 2; 22 %), primarily cannabis use (Class 3; 15 %), primarily opioid and crack use (Class 4; 29 %), and frequent PSU (Class 5; 4 %). In comparison with Class 1 (low), membership in all latent PSU classes except Class 3 (cannabis) was associated with increased odds of non-fatal overdose.
Design/methods
Longitudinal data (2005–2018; n=2627) from three ongoing prospective cohorts of people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada.
