Self-treatment of Skin Infections by People Who Inject Drugs

Abstract Background and Aims Persons who inject drugs (PWID) experience high rates of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) and often access emergency or inpatient treatment. However, many PWID do not seek care and self-treat some or all of their infections. The goal of the current study was to examine predictors of self-treatment of SSTI in a sample of hospitalized PWID, and describe methods of and reasons for self-treatment. Methods PWID (N = 252) were recruited from inpatient medical units at an urban safety-net hospital to join a behavioral intervention trial. The baseline interview focused on past-year SSTI incidence and related treatment, including reasons for not accessing medical care and methods of self-treatment. Results Of study participants, 162 (64%) reported having at least one SSTI in the past year. This subset was 59.9% White/Caucasian with a mean age of 38.0 (SD + 10.5). One-third of these participants (32.3%) reported ever self-treating SSTI in the past year. In a logistic regression model, number of past-year infections (OR = 1.81, p  Conclusions Interventions targeting SSTI among PWID should include education on when to seek medical care and the risks of serious infection, and could be implemented at local clinics or harm reduction programs to increase access.