Article Figures & Tables
Tables
Characteristic Sex; no. (%) of participants* Men
n = 317Women
n = 293All
n = 610Demographic City Vancouver 152 (47.9) 152 (51.9) 304 (49.8) Prince George 165 (52.1) 141 (48.1) 306 (50.2) Age, yr, median (IQR) 23.8 (20.8–27.4) 23 (20.1–25.9) 23.5 (20.5–26.9) Trauma Either parent attended residential school n = 313 n = 290 n = 603 Yes 146 (46.6) 133 (45.9) 279 (46.3) No 67 (21.4) 66 (22.8) 133 (22.0) Unsure 100 (31.9) 91 (31.4) 191 (31.7) Ever removed from biological parents n = 316 n = 293 n = 609 Yes 193 (61.1) 201 (68.6) 394 (64.7) No 123 (38.9) 92 (31.4) 215 (35.3) Childhood sexual abuse (≤ 15 yr) n = 311 n = 288 n = 599 Yes 83 (26.7) 182 (63.2) 265 (44.2) No 228 (73.3) 106 (36.8) 334 (55.8) Age at first sexual abuse,† yr, median (IQR) 6 (4.0–8.0) 6 (4.0–9.0) 6 (4.0–9.0) Ever incarcerated n = 315 n = 293 n = 608 Yes 238 (75.6) 161 (54.9) 399 (65.6) No 77 (24.4) 132 (45.1) 209 (34.4) Ever admitted to hospital for mental illness n = 311 n = 288 n = 599 Yes 50 (16.1) 60 (20.8) 110 (18.4) No 261 (83.9) 228 (79.2) 489 (81.6) Ever diagnosed with mental illness n = 314 n = 293 n = 607 Yes 104 (33.1) 77 (26.3) 181 (29.8) No 210 (66.9) 216 (73.7) 426 (70.2) Ever thought about suicide n = 316 n = 293 n = 609 Yes 167 (52.8) 155 (52.9) 322 (52.9) No 149 (47.2) 138 (47.1) 287 (47.1) Ever attempted suicide n = 316 n = 293 n = 609 Yes 100 (31.6) 124 (42.3) 224 (36.8) No 216 (68.4) 169 (57.7) 385 (63.2) Substance use Age at initiation of non-injection drug use, yr, median (IQR) 16 (14.0–19.0) 16.2 (14.0–18.0) 16 (14.0–18.0) Ever injected n = 317 n = 293 n = 610 Yes 148 (46.7) 190 (64.8) 338 (55.4) No 169 (53.3) 103 (35.2) 272 (44.6) Age at first injection,‡ yr, median (IQR) 18 (16.0–22.0) 17 (15.0–20.0) 18 (15.0–21.0) Ever overdosed n = 315 n = 290 n = 605 Yes 79 (25.1) 101 (34.8) 180 (29.8) No 236 (74.9) 189 (65.2) 425 (70.2) Binge injection drug use n = 286 n = 265 n = 551 Yes 25 (8.7) 33 (12.5) 58 (10.5) No 261 (91.3) 232 (87.5) 493 (89.5) Binge non-injection drug use n = 312 n = 290 n = 602 Yes 166 (53.2) 144 (49.7) 310 (51.5) No 146 (46.8) 146 (50.3) 292 (48.5) Daily or more injection of cocaine n = 317 n = 293 n = 610 Yes 32 (10.1) 55 (18.8) 87 (14.3) No 285 (89.9) 238 (81.2) 523 (85.7) Daily or more injection of crystal methamphetamine n = 317 n = 292 n = 609 Yes 14 (4.4) 6 (2.1) 20 (3.3) No 303 (95.6) 286 (97.9) 589 (96.7) Daily or more injection of opiates n = 317 n = 293 n = 610 Yes 26 (8.2) 84 (28.7) 110 (18.0) No 291 (91.8) 209 (71.3) 500 (82.0) Ever received methadone treatment n = 317 n = 290 n = 607 Yes 20 (6.3) 75 (25.9) 95 (15.7) No 297 (93.7) 215 (74.1) 512 (84.3) Sexual vulnerability Ever been paid for sex n = 242 n = 293 n = 535 Yes 54 (22.3) 206 (70.3) 260 (48.6) No 188 (77.7) 87 (29.7) 275 (51.4) HIV or HCV infection HIV infection n = 314 n = 293 n = 607 Yes 14 (4.5) 34 (11.6) 48 (7.9) No 300 (95.5) 259 (88.4) 559 (92.1) HCV infection n = 308 n = 283 n = 591 Yes 74 (24.0) 120 (42.4) 194 (32.8) No 234 (76.0) 163 (57.6) 397 (67.2) - Table 2:
Causes of death among young Indigenous people who use drugs in British Columbia, Canada (2003–2014)
Cause of death Group; no. (%) All
n = 40Women
n = 26Men
n = 14Overdose 15 (38) 11 (42) 4 (29) Substance use (not overdose) 3 (8) 1 (4) 2 (14) Suicide 5 (12) 4 (15) 1 (7) Homicide 2 (5) 0 (0) 2 (14) Illness 11 (28) 8* (31) 3 (21) HIV-related 2 0 2 HCV-related 2 2 0 HIV/HCV co-infection 2 1 1 Other 1 (2) 1 (4) 0 (0) Unknown 3 (8) 1 (4) 2 (14) Note: HCV = hepatitis C virus.
↵* Causes of deaths from illness not related to HIV or HCV were cardiac conditions (n = 2), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (n = 1) and renal failure (n = 2).
Variable All Sex Injection drug use* Women Men Yes No Person-years of follow up 5967 2838 3129 3246 2721 Crude mortality rate, per 100 000 population per year (95% CI) 670 (479–913) 916 (598–1342) 447 (245–751) 986 (674–1392) 294 (127–579) Standardized mortality ratio v. Canadian population (95% CI)† 12.9 (9.2–17.5) 15.8 (10.3–23.2) 8.5 (4.7–14.3) 18.4 (12.6–25.9) 4.6 (2.0–9.0) Standardized mortality ratio v. Indigenous population (95% CI)‡ 7.8 (5.6–10.6) 9.6 (6.3–14.1) 5.2 (2.8–8.7) 11.1 (7.6–15.7) 2.8 (1.2–5.5) Characteristic HR (95% CI) Demographic Sex, female 2.05 (1.07–3.92) City, Vancouver 1.21 (0.65–2.25) Age 1.05 (0.97–1.13) Trauma Either parent attended residential school Yes 1.22 (0.54–2.73) Unsure 0.83 (0.33–2.08) Ever removed from biological parents 0.73 (0.39–1.36) Childhood sexual abuse 1.21 (0.65–2.24) Age at first sexual abuse* 0.94 (0.83–1.06) Ever attempted suicide 1.97 (1.06–3.66) Ever incarcerated 1.82 (0.87–3.82) Ever admitted to hospital for mental illness 1.19 (0.55–2.58) Ever diagnosed with mental illness 1.65 (0.88–3.10) Ever thought about suicide 1.71 (0.89–3.27) Slept on the streets for ≥ 3 nights (recent) 0.67 (0.29–1.51) Thought about suicide (recent) 0.78 (0.20–3.03) Incarcerated (recent) 1.33 (0.68–2.63) Substance use Age at first non-injection drug use† 0.93 (0.84–1.02) Ever injected 3.36 (1.55–7.29) Age at first injection 0.96 (0.88–1.05) Ever overdosed 1.46 (0.77–2.78) Injection drug use (recent) 1.98 (1.04–3.77) Binge injection drug use (recent) 2.52 (0.99–6.45) Binge non-injection drug use (recent) 1.24 (0.60–2.54) Alcohol binge (recent) 1.40 (0.62–3.17) Daily or more injection of cocaine (recent) 2.81 (1.16–6.79) Daily or more injection of crystal methamphetamine (recent) 1.15 (0.28–4.79) Daily or more injection of opiates (recent) 2.41 (1.22–4.77) Overdose (recent) 3.11 (1.10–8.79) Ever methadone treatment 1.90 (0.93–3.89) Methadone treatment (recent) 2.04 (0.90–4.62) Sexual vulnerability Ever been paid for sex 1.42 (0.76–2.63) Sexual assault (recent) 1.91 (0.46–7.94) Sex work (recent) 1.58 (0.74–3.40) HIV or HCV infection HIV infection 1.77 (0.84–3.73) HCV infection 2.22 (1.16–4.26) Variable Adjusted HR* (95% CI) HCV (at baseline) 2.76 (1.47–5.16) Ever attempted suicide 1.88 (1.01–3.50) Overdose in past 6 mo 2.85 (1.00–8.09) Age at first non-injection drug use 0.94 (0.86–1.03) Note: CI = confidence interval, HCV = hepatitis C virus, HR = hazard ratio.
↵* Each HR was adjusted for the other variables in this table.