Release Date
Geography
Language of Resource
Full Text Available
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
Peer Reviewed
Objective
The importance of social network influence on disease transmission is well established, yet the interplay between harm reduction and network structures is, generally, not well understood. This study aims to analyze how social networks can mediate the harm reduction effects associated with secondary exchange through syringe service programs (SSP) and opioid agonist therapies (OAT) among injection network members.
Findings/Key points
We found that probability of individuals being retained in OAT was positively associated with the OAT retention status of their peers within the network. Using simulations, we found that higher levels of positive correlation of OAT retention among network members can result in reduced risk of transmission of HIV to network partners on OAT. In addition, we found that secondary syringe exchange engagement was associated with higher probability of sharing of paraphernalia and unsterile needles at the network level.
Design/methods
Sociometric data on networks on people who inject drugs from Hartford, CT, which were collected in 2012–2013, provided assessment of risk behaviors among 1574 injection network members, including participation in OAT and SSP.
