The Impact of Injectable Opioid Agonist Treatment (iOAT) on Involvement in Criminalized Activities: A Secondary Analysis from a Clinical Trial in Vancouver, BC

Figures & data

Table 1 Sample Characteristics

	Total (N = 192), Mean [SD], N (%)	Charged (N = 81), Mean [SD], N (%)	Not Charged (N = 111), Mean [SD], N (%)
Sociodemographics
Age*	44.5 [9.4]	42.4 [9.8]	46.1 [8.9]
Gender*
Male	135 (70.3)	65 (80.2)	70 (63.1)
Female	57 (29.7)	16 (19.8)	41 (36.9)
Usual housing is unstable (including street place)	144 (75)	62 (76.5)	82 (73.9)
Did not graduate high school	90 (46.9)	36 (44.4)	54 (48.6)
Spent time in foster care	45 (23.4)	21 (25.9)	24 (21.6)
Indigenous Ancestry	58 (30.2)	26 (32.1)	32 (28.8)
Ever been paid in exchange for sex work	76 (39.6)	26 (32.1)	50 (45.0)
Months incarcerated in life^a*	37.3 [66.1]	55.5 [75.1]	24.7 [55.9]
Days of illegal activities in the prior month^b*	13.9 [13.7]	19.7 [12.8]	9.6 [12.7]
Drug Use
Days using any street opioids in the prior 30	27.9 [4.3]	28.2 [4.5]	27.6 [4.1]
Days using crack cocaine in the past 30	10.1 [12.6]	10.1 [12.9]	10.1 [12.5]
Money spent on drugs in the prior month^c*	2735.2 [4364.7]	3858.1 [6070.3]	1925.8 [2205.3]
Lifetime years of regular injection heroin use^d	15.5 [9.4]	14.9 [9.2]	16 [9.6]
Health and Treatment
Chronic medical problems	106 (55.2)	41 (50.6)	65 (58.6)
OTI health scale	22.4 [11.9]	23.1 [11.7]	21.9 [12.1]
Ever experienced serious depression	111 (57.8)	51 (63.0)	74 (66.7)
Ever attempted suicide	48 (25.4)	15 (18.8)	33 (30.3)
Number of Methadone Maintenance Treatment starts since 1995	5 [3.4]	5.5 [3.8]	4.7 [3.1]

Notes: *Significant differences. ^aCharged (N = 75), Not Charged (N = 110). ^bNot Charged (N = 110). ^cCharged (N = 80). ^dNot Charged (N = 110).

Table 2 Number of Records by Role Definition. Records Obtained from the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) from One Year Prior to Participants’ Specific Date of Randomization to Two Years After

Role	Definition	Number of Records	Number of Participants
		N=1337 (%)	N=192 (%)
Charged	Charges have been recommended against the subject.	259 (19.4)	81 (42.2)
Emotionally Disturbed Person	Subject appears mentally unstable and might pose a threat to an investigator, themselves, or others.	19 (1.4)	15 (7.8)
Intoxicated	Subject is, or appears to be, under the influence of substances.	2 (0.1)	2 (1.0)
Of Interest	Subject of interest to police.	61 (4.6)	36 (18.8)
Parole breach	Subject breached parole conditions.	0 (0)	0 (0)
Recommended Charge	Charges were recommended by police; Crown dropped the charges.	27 (2.0)	23 (12.0)
Street Check	Subject came to the attention of law enforcement as a result of a self-generated inspection under suspicious circumstances and not an investigation.	62 (4.6)	43 (22.4)
Subject of Complaint	Subject is being complained about. This code is non-accusatory in nature.	481 (36.0)	105 (54.7)
Suspected Chargeable	Subject for whom grounds exist to recommend a charge but charges are not pursued.	212 (15.9)	87 (45.3)
Suspect	Subject believed to be involved in the commission of a crime but charges have not been laid.	149 (11.1)	76 (39.6)
Victim	Subject has suffered as a result of the commission of a violent offence.	65 (4.9)	49 (25.5)

Figure 1 Total number of charges by offence type for the 259 overall charges divided into four categories (green) with associated grouped offence subcategories (blue).

Table 3 Pair Comparisons of Incidence of Official Criminal Charges During the Period Receiving Injectable Opioid Agonist Treatment Over Three Years

Treatment State	Charges (n)	Total Person Days	Rate per 100-Person Days (95% CI)	Unadjusted Rate Ratios (95% CI)	Adjusted Rate Ratios (95% CI)
iOAT	48	69,305	0.07 (0.05–0.09)
No Treatment – Post SALOME trial vs iOAT	56	38,958	0.14 (0.11–0.19)	2.08 (1.41–3.05)	1.72 (0.99–2.97)
No Treatment - Prior SALOME trial vs iOAT	132	69,825	0.19 (0.16–0.22)	2.73 (1.96–3.80)	2.61 (1.64–4.14)
Other Treatment vs iOAT	17	19,307	0.09 (0.05–0.14)	1.27 (0.73–2.21)	1.25 (0.64–2.47)

Notes: Rate Ratio of “Any Charge” between treatment states. Total sample includes n = 186; 6 participants were excluded for incomplete medication dispensation data.