Injection partnership characteristics and HCV status associations with syringe and equipment sharing among people who inject drugs

Abstract

Background. Sharing of syringes is the leading transmission pathway for hepatitis C (HCV) infections. The extent to which HCV can spread among people who inject drugs (PWID) is largely dependent on syringe-sharing network factors. Our study aims to better understand partnership characteristics and syringe and equipment sharing with those partners, including measures of relationship closeness, sexual activity, and social support, as well as self and partner HCV status to better inform interventions for young urban and suburban PWID. Methods. Baseline interviews from a longitudinal network-based study of young (aged 18-30) PWID participants (egos) and their injection, sexual, and support network members (alters) (n=276 egos and 929 injection alters) in metropolitan Chicago. All participants completed a baseline computer-assisted interviewer-administered questionnaire and an egocentric network survey. Results. Correlates of syringe and ancillary equipment sharing were found to be similar. Sharing was more likely to occur in mixed-gender dyads. Participants were more likely to share syringes and equipment with alters who lived in the same household, who they saw every day, who they trusted, who they had an intimate relationship with that included condomless sex, and who provided emotional or informational support. PWID who had tested HCV negative within the past year were less likely to share syringes with an HCV positive partner compared to those who did not know their status. Conclusion. PWID regulate their syringe and other injection equipment sharing to some extent by sharing preferentially with injection partners with whom they have a close personal or intimate relationship, and whose HCV status they are more likely to know. Our findings underscore the need for risk interventions and HCV treatment strategies to consider the social context of syringe and equipment sharing within partnerships.