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Table 1 Baseline characteristics stratified by pain medication denial among people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada

From: Denial of prescription pain medication among people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada

Characteristic

Total, n = 1168 (100%)

Denied medication, n = 294

(25.2%)

Not denied medication, n = 874

(74.8%)

p – value

Age (median, IQR)

47.0 (36.6–53.7)

43.7 (32.4–51.7)

47.8 (38.3–54.5)

 < 0.001

Sex

Male

736 (63.0)

194 (66.0)

542 (62.0)

0.25

Female

432 (37.0)

100 (34.0)

332 (38.0)

 

Ethnicity/Ancestry

Indigenous

450 (38.5)

104 (35.4)

346 (39.6)

0.42

POC/other

49 (4.2)

12 (4.1)

37 (4.2)

 

White

658 (56.3)

175 (59.5)

483 (55.3)

 

Education completed

 ≥ High school

610 (52.2)

160 (54.4)

450 (51.5)

0.312

 < High school

537 (46.0)

126 (42.9)

411 (47.0)

 

Living with HIV

Yes

459 (39.3)

96 (32.65)

363 (41.5)

0.009

No

709 (60.7)

198 (67.35)

511 (58.5)

 

HCV status

Seropositive

901 (77.1)

226 (76.9)

675 (77.2)

1

Seronegative

265 (22.7)

67 (22.8)

198 (22.7)

 

Physical disability

Yes

792 (67.8)

201 (68.4)

591 (67.6)

0.811

No

375 (32.1)

92 (31.3)

283 (32.4)

 

Housing status*

Unstable

731 (62.6)

206 (70.1)

525 (60.1)

0.002

Stable

426 (36.5)

85 (28.9)

341 (39.0)

 

Downtown Eastside residency*

Yes

646 (55.3)

170 (57.8)

476 (54.5)

0.35

No

522 (44.7)

124 (42.2)

398 (45.5)

 

Incarceration*

Yes

88 (7.5)

43 (14.6)

45 (5.2)

 < 0.001

No

1078 (92.3)

250 (85.0)

828 (94.7)

 

Opioid agonist therapy*

Yes

653 (55.9)

181 (61.6)

472 (54.0)

0.028

No

515 (44.1)

113 (38.4)

402 (46.0)

 

Non-fatal overdose*

Yes

128 (11.0)

50 (17.0)

78 (8.9)

 < 0.001

No

1040 (89.0)

244 (83.0)

796 (91.1)

 

Self-manage pain*

Yes

830 (71.1)

264 (89.8)

566 (64.8)

 < 0.001

No

337 (28.9)

30 (10.2)

307 (35.1)

 

Heavy alcohol use*

Yes

166 (14.2)

44 (15.0)

122 (14.0)

0.746

No

1001 (85.7)

250 (85.0)

751 (85.9)

 

Daily cannabis use*

Yes

320 (27.4)

81 (27.6)

239 (27.4)

0.998

No

845 (72.4)

212 (72.1)

633 (72.4)

 

Daily stimulant use*,

Yes

298 (25.5)

95 (32.3)

203 (23.2)

0.002

No

866 (74.1)

197 (67.0)

669 (76.5)

 

Daily heroin/unregulated opioid use*

Yes

204 (17.5)

79 (26.9)

125 (14.3)

 < 0.001

No

960 (82.2)

213 (72.5)

747 (85.5)

 

Any injection drug use*

Yes

707 (60.5)

210 (71.4)

497 (56.9)

 < 0.001

No

460 (39.4)

83 (28.2)

377 (43.1)

 

Daily non-medical prescription opioid use*

Yes

64 (5.5)

27 (9.2)

37 (4.2)

0.002

No

1102 (94.4)

266 (90.5)

836 (95.7)

 
  1. P-values were calculated by a simple logistic regression for the continuous variable age, and by normal approximation and Chi-square test for categorical and binary variables, respectively
  2. IQR interquartile range, POC person of colour, HIV human immunodeficiency virus, HCV hepatitis C virus
  3. *in the six months prior to the interview date
  4. Defined as daily cocaine, crack, or meth use