Prior research has explored
spatial access to syringe exchange programs (SEPs) among persons who inject
drugs (PWID), but these studies have been based on limited data from
short periods of time. No research has explored changes in spatial access to
SEPs among PWID longitudinally.
The purpose of this research is to examine spatial access to SEPs among PWID who
accessed services at a SEP in Washington, District of Columbia (DC), from 1996
to 2010. The geometric point distance estimation technique was used to
calculate the mean walking distance PWID traveled
from the centroid point of their zip code of home residence to the mobile
exchange site where they accessed SEP services. Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
was used to examine differences in walking distance measures by year.
The
results of this research suggest that the distance DC PWID traveled to access SEP services remained relatively constant
(approximately 2.75 mi) from 2003 to 2008, but increased to just over
4 mi in 2010.
This research provides support for expanding SEP operations
such that PWID have
increased access to their services. Increasing SEP accessibility may help
resolve unmet needs among injectors.
Purchase full article at:
- 1Department of Prevention & Community Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave Suite 300, Washington, DC, 20052, USA. sallen63@jhu.edu.
- 2Johns Hopkins University, 615 N. Wolfe St., Room E6534, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA. sallen63@jhu.edu.
- 3Department of Prevention & Community Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave Suite 300, Washington, DC, 20052, USA. msruiz@gwu.edu.
- 4Department of Health Policy & Management, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University, PO Box 8015, Statesboro, GA, 30460, USA. jajones@georgiasouthern.edu.
- J Urban Health. 2016 Jan 19.
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