Background: We evaluated factors associated with public drug injection among a cohort of injection drug users (SEOSI) originally recruited from within Vancouver's supervised injecting facility (SIF).
Methods: We used univariate statistics and logistic regression to examine factors associated with public drug injection among SEOSI participants.
Findings: Between June 2004 and July 2005, 714 IDU were followed up as part of SEOSI. In multivariate analyses, factors associated with public drug injection included homelessness (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 3.10; p < .001), syringe lending (aOR = 5.39; p < .001), requiring help injecting (aOR = 1.60; p = .05), and reporting that wait times affected frequency of SIF use (aOR = 3.26; p < .001).
Interpretation: Persistent public injection was independently associated with elevated HIV risk behaviors, as well as programmatic factors that limit SIF use. SIF program expansion may further help to reduce persistent risk behaviors and the community concerns related to public injection drug use.