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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: OBJECTIVE, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: Adolescent, Alcohol Drinking, Amphetamine-Related Disorders, British Columbia, Cohort Studies, Female, Homeless Youth, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Marijuana Abuse, Methamphetamine, Opioid-Related Disorders, Proportional Hazards Models, Statistics as Topic, Street Drugs, Substance Abuse, Intravenous, Young Adult.
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Does homelessness independently predict injection drug use initiation among street-involved youth in a Canadian setting? Context: This longitudinal study examines the association between homelessness and injection drug use initiation among a cohort of street-involved youth in a setting of high-prevalence crystal methamphetamine use. We derived data from the At-Risk Youth Study, a prospective cohort of street-involved youth aged 14-26 years, recruited between September 2005 and November 2011. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to identify factors independently associated with time to injection initiation. Among 422 street-youth who had never injected at baseline, we observed 77 injection initiation events during follow-up. Homelessness was independently associated with injection initiation in multivariate Cox regression (relative hazard, 1.80 [95% confidence interval, 1.13-2.87]) after adjusting for crystal methamphetamine use and other potential confounders.
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These findings highlight that homelessness is a key risk factor for injection initiation among street-involved youth. Supportive housing interventions for street youth may help prevent injection drug use initiation within this high-risk population. Final Decision: yes