Is low BMI Associated with Specific Drug Use Among Injecting Drug Users?

Abstract

Body mass index (BMI) of a sample of people who regularly inject drugs (N = 781) was examined to gauge the impact of specific types of drug use. Cross-sectional interviews were undertaken in 2010 as part of a national monitoring program funded by the Australian Government. Latent class analysis identified three groups of drug users, with heroin users at 3.4 times the risk of being underweight compared with amphetamine users, and amphetamine users were at almost twice the odds of being obese compared with lower level morphine users. Nutrition should play a part in harm minimization.

Keywords :

• injecting drug use
• body mass index
• illicit drugs

THE AUTHORS

Fairlie McIlwraith is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Queensland Alcohol and Drug Research and Education Centre at the University of Queensland, Australia. Fairlie has a PhD in public health and coordinates the Queensland component of a national drug monitoring system and also coordinates a pilot study on nonfatal drug overdoses.

Kim Betts is a PhD student at the School of Population Heath, University of Queensland. Working within epidemiology and biostatistics his main focus is on how early life events may increase the risk of mental health problems in early adulthood, and has undertaken training in Structural Equation Modeling and Mixture Modeling techniques. He has additional research interest in the determinants and outcome of adolescent alcohol and drug use.

Rebecca Jenkinson is an NHMRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Burnet Institute and Australian Institute of Family Studies. Rebecca coordinates a range of studies related to young people's alcohol and other drug use and associated risk behaviors.

Sophie Hickey is a research assistant for IDRS/EDRS at the Queensland Alcohol and Drug Research and Education Centre, The University of Queensland. She is currently doing a PhD in Sociology at the University of Queensland on the social factors that influence the health of Aboriginal Australians living in Brisbane, from birth to adulthood.

Lucy Burns has been Senior Lecturer within the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre since 2008. Dr Burns holds a PhD from the University of New South Wales where she researched the epidemiology of comorbidity between alcohol use disorders, anxiety and depression. She also holds a Master of Public Health and a Graduate Certificate in Health Policy from Sydney University. Dr. Burns has expertise in advanced statistical and research methods using linked data; and has interests in drug use amongst marginalized groups including women who are pregnant and people who are homeless. Dr. Burns is Manager of the Drug Trends Program including the EDRS, IDRS and NIDIP.

Rosa Alati, PhD, is an Associate Professor with the School of Population Health and the Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research, The University of Queensland. She has an established academic profile in the epidemiology of alcohol and mental health studies. The driving force of her current research program is to establish causal mechanisms linking in-utero exposure to drug and alcohol to health and disease later in life. Her research on the etiology of alcohol disorders has led to sustained collaborations with outstanding international research teams, media attention and new evidence for translation to public health policy.

GLOSSARY

• Body Mass Index (BMI): A measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to adult males and females.

• Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS): Acts as a national monitoring system in Australia. Surveys are undertaken each year, identifying emerging trends in drug use and markets, as well as risks and harms associated with drug use.

• Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10): A 10-item questionnaire designed to yield a global measure of distress based on questions about anxiety and depressive symptoms experienced in the previous four weeks.

• Needle and Syringe Program (NSP): Provides sterile needles and syringes to people who inject drugs. NSP workers also provide education and information on healthcare issues and related harms and facilitate entry into drug treatment.