Behavioural Patterns of Drug Users In Highland

SCIEH has been conducting blood-borne virus prevalence and associated risk factor studies of illicit drug use over a number of years in many areas of Scotland. Since 1990 studies have regularly been carried out in the Glasgow area and have also been undertaken in the Health Board Areas of Ayrshire and Arran1, Argyll and Clyde2 and Lanarkshire3, including urban and rural districts within these areas. SCIEH has therefore built up a wealth of experience of the problems of and solutions to recruiting and interviewing drug users in different types of geographic areas.

In 1997 SCIEH was commissioned by Highland Health Board to report on the feasibility of conducting a cross-sectional behavioural and prevalence study of drug use within Highland Region, similar in nature to those studies already conducted by SCIEH throughout Scotland.

The feasibility study was carried out over a two-week period in the Fort William area of Highland Region in November 1997 by two experienced interviewers in SCIEH’s mobile interview unit. The target group was all drug users including those who were occasional recreational users. A total of 20 drug users were interviewed during the two weeks of the study. Although this was a higher participation rate than expected, the major drawbacks to the use of a mobile interview unit in such a small community became very apparent by the beginning of the second week of the fieldwork. As had been anticipated, many of those approached were reluctant to be associated with a vehicle that had become identified with being involved in a study of drug use. A similar problem had been noted in studies covering other rural areas such as Argyll and Bute in 1996.

In January 2000 SCIEH was commissioned by Highland Health Board to conduct a HIV and hepatitis C prevalence and risk assessment survey of dependent drug users in the region over a three month period to begin in July of that year. Initially it was intended that up to 100 interviews be carried out in Inverness, Easter Ross and Nairn on a proposed breakdown of 60, 30 and 10 respectively. After consultation with the drug development coordinator in Highland it was agreed that the study should specifically target the current injectors and that the study fieldwork be conducted over a four month period and be extended to include the Fort William area.