| Sumario: | Objectives: To determine the prevalence of injecting drug use at 11-year follow-up, patterns of injecting drug use across follow-up, and the clinical correlates of injecting. Methods: Eleven-year post baseline follow-up of the Australian Treatment Outcome Study cohort. Injecting behaviors were examined over the month preceding each wave. Results: The prevalence of injecting, daily injecting, needle sharing, and injection-related health problems had all declined significantly. In the month preceding 11-year follow-up, 32% had injected a drug, 10% daily. While at baseline the ratio of daily to nondaily injectors was 6:1, this had declined to 1:2 by 11-year follow-up. Of those interviewed at 11-year follow-up, 11% had injected at each wave in which they were interviewed, 19% injected at baseline but at no subsequent wave, and 5% had not injected at any wave. Injecting was significantly associated with: older baseline age (OR =1.02), concurrent use of more different drug classes (mean difference 2.1), a higher likelihood of criminality (OR = 5.8), crime being the main income source (OR = 5.6), lower SF12 physical (mean difference -3.8) and mental health (- 8.3) scores, and a current diagnosis of Major Depression (OR = 2.7). Being enrolled in treatment was associated with a significantly lower odds of daily injection (OR = 0.71), but not of injecting at all on the preceding month (OR = 1.0). Conclusions: There had been significant clinical improvement in injecting behaviors and the correlates of injecting. Realistic expectations of recovery, however, need to be placed in the context of long-term injecting patterns.
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