Sleep Health among Community-Recruited Opioid-Using People Who Inject Drugs in Los Angeles, CA and Denver, CO

Original research
by
Ruth, Avaion et al

Release Date

2024

Geography

USA

Language of Resource

English

Full Text Available

Yes

Open Access / OK to Reproduce

Yes

Peer Reviewed

Yes

Objective

This study examined factors associated with insufficient and poor-quality sleep among community-recruited people who inject drugs (PWID). 

Findings/Key points

Poor sleep health is common among structurally vulnerable community-recruited PWID, as measured by subsistence index associated with adverse sleep outcomes. Participants with poor quality sleep and insufficient sleep were statistically significantly more likely to report difficulty in addressing basic needs (shelter, food, etc.). Drug use patterns were not associated with sleep health. Rather, the personal circumstances related to social determinants of health appear more salient for this outcome. Further research on structural interventions to address sleep and subsequent health outcomes among PWID is imperative.

Design/methods

472 active opioid-using PWID (injected within the last 30 days) were interviewed in Los Angeles, CA and Denver, CO between 2021 and 2022. Participants completed computer-assisted interviews covering demographics, subsistence measures, drug use patterns, injection-related behaviors, health risks, and sleep duration and quality in the last 3 months. 

Keywords

About PWUD
Evidence base
Housing
Injecting drugs
Opioids
Poverty