The association of social network factors with healthcare use and outcomes among persons who inject drugs in Baltimore, Maryland

Background The prevalence of past year injection drug use has been estimated to be 15.6 million adults globally and 2.6 million in North America. Persons who inject drugs (PWID) are disproportionately burdened with a high prevalence of health and socioeconomic disparities and barriers to care. High rates of emergency department (ED) use among PWID indicate disparities in access to and use of primary care. The National Institute of Drug Abuse domestic research funding priorities include eliminating disparities in the HIV continuum of care for persons who use substances. Further, the National HIV/AIDS Strategy has set a goal to increase the number of PLWH with HIV viral suppression. While social network factors are known to influence health behaviors, it is not known how social networks may differ between PWID with current or former injection drug use and most studies do not focus on the very close ties that may be the most influential on health behaviors. Objectives The goal of this study is to characterize the social support available to PWID from their closest network members and determine associations of social network factors with HIV viral suppression and emergency department (ED) use. Methods We developed a social network survey to gather network characteristics among PWID participating in the AIDS Linked to the IntraVenous Experience (ALIVE) study in Baltimore, Maryland. The interviews were conducted from April 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017. Egocentric social network data were derived from participant report about their network members’ attributes and relationship characteristics. Emotional, instrumental and informational support constructs were based on responses to seven support indicator questions. Latent class analysis was implemented with a multilevel approach based on the probabilities for each of the social support indicators. Associations with class membership were identified through multinomial logistic regression. The types of social support and the sources of support from different types of alters within ego-networks then became the primary exposures of interest in determining associations with emergency department use categorized as none, one or two or more visits in the prior six months use for the entire sample and with HIV RNA