TY - JOUR
AU - J. Lorvick
AU - J. L. Hemberg
AU - M. J. George
AU - J. R. Piontak
AU - M. L. Comfort
A1 - 
AB - The unintentional consumption of fentanyl is a serious health risk for people who use illicit drugs. In an ongoing community-based study regarding polysubstance use among people who use opioids, we found that 17 of 58 (29%) of participants who did not endorse fentanyl use in the past thirty days tested positive for fentanyl during point-of-care urinalysis (UA). This paper describes the reactions and experiences of participants who were informed they had consumed fentanyl unintentionally, as well as how the research team handled the unanticipated occurrence of discordant results. Consistent with other recent studies, we found that people learning of unintentional fentanyl use expressed strong concerns about accidental overdose. It was common for participants to reflect on recent substance use experiences that were atypical and might have involved fentanyl, as well as to examine sources of recent drug purchases. While not all participants were surprised that they had unintentionally consumed fentanyl, all felt that learning their positive results was important due to risk of overdose. Research and medical staff have an opportunity to promote awareness of possible contamination by sharing and discussing UA test results with people who use drugs in non-judgmental manner. In addition to the widely promoted harm reduction strategy of testing drugs with fentanyl test strips, self-administered point-of-care UA, particularly after an unexpected reaction to using a drug, could provide useful information for people buying and using illicit drugs.
AD - Community Health and Implementation Research Program, RTI International, 2150 Shattuck Ave, Suite 800, Berkeley, CA, 94117, USA. jlorvick@rti.org.; Community Health and Implementation Research Program, RTI International, 2150 Shattuck Ave, Suite 800, Berkeley, CA, 94117, USA.; Center for the Health of Populations, RTI International, Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA.; Transformative Research Unit for Equity, RTI International, Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA.
AN - 37684603
BT - Harm Reduct J
C5 - Opioids & Substance Use
CP - 1
DA - Sep 8
DO - 10.1186/s12954-023-00863-1
DP - NLM
ET - 20230908
IS - 1
JF - Harm Reduct J
LA - eng
N2 - The unintentional consumption of fentanyl is a serious health risk for people who use illicit drugs. In an ongoing community-based study regarding polysubstance use among people who use opioids, we found that 17 of 58 (29%) of participants who did not endorse fentanyl use in the past thirty days tested positive for fentanyl during point-of-care urinalysis (UA). This paper describes the reactions and experiences of participants who were informed they had consumed fentanyl unintentionally, as well as how the research team handled the unanticipated occurrence of discordant results. Consistent with other recent studies, we found that people learning of unintentional fentanyl use expressed strong concerns about accidental overdose. It was common for participants to reflect on recent substance use experiences that were atypical and might have involved fentanyl, as well as to examine sources of recent drug purchases. While not all participants were surprised that they had unintentionally consumed fentanyl, all felt that learning their positive results was important due to risk of overdose. Research and medical staff have an opportunity to promote awareness of possible contamination by sharing and discussing UA test results with people who use drugs in non-judgmental manner. In addition to the widely promoted harm reduction strategy of testing drugs with fentanyl test strips, self-administered point-of-care UA, particularly after an unexpected reaction to using a drug, could provide useful information for people buying and using illicit drugs.
PY - 2023
SN - 1477-7517
SP - 128
ST - "Just another thing for me to stress off of": Responses to unintentional fentanyl use in a community-based study of people who use opioids
T1 - "Just another thing for me to stress off of": Responses to unintentional fentanyl use in a community-based study of people who use opioids
T2 - Harm Reduct J
TI - "Just another thing for me to stress off of": Responses to unintentional fentanyl use in a community-based study of people who use opioids
U1 - Opioids & Substance Use
U3 - 10.1186/s12954-023-00863-1
VL - 20
VO - 1477-7517
Y1 - 2023
ER -