Identifying injection drug use and estimating population size of people who inject drugs using healthcare administrative datasets

Large linked healthcare administrative datasets could be used to monitor programs providing prevention and treatment services to people who inject drugs (PWID). However, diagnostic codes in administrative datasets do not differentiate non-injection from injection drug use (IDU). We validated algorithms based on diagnostic codes and prescription records representing IDU in administrative datasets against interview-based IDU data.

Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - February 23, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Naveed Zafar Janjua, Nazrul Islam, Margot Kuo, Amanda Yu, Stanley Wong, Zahid A. Butt, Mark Gilbert, Jane Buxton, Nuria Chapinal, Hasina Samji, Mei Chong, Maria Alvarez, Jason Wong, Mark W. Tyndall, Mel Krajden, for the BC Hepatitis Testers Cohort Team Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research