Changing age profile and incidence of injecting drug use initiation among people in Australia who inject drugs

This NDARC-led study aimed to explore trends in the age of people injecting and recently starting to inject drugs in Australia, and to model incidence of initiation over time.

The researchers obtained data from the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) and the Australian Needle Syringe Program Survey (ANSPS), which comprise annual cross-sectional surveys with people who inject drugs (2000–2019).

Overall, they found that most people who were injecting drugs in Australia in 2019 were part of a cohort that began injecting in the 1980s or 1990s. Consequently, the population was older and had been injecting drugs for longer compared to those injecting drugs in 2000. This has implications for health service delivery to people who inject drugs, with increasing age likely to be accompanied by a rise in chronic health conditions and an increase in injecting duration potentially resulting in higher incidence of injecting-related injuries and diseases.

Read the full study in The Lancet Regional Health- Western Pacific.

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