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The self-reported personal wellbeing of a sample of Australian injecting drug users
journal contribution
posted on 2010-12-01, 00:00 authored by Paul Dietze, M Stoové, Peter MillerPeter Miller, S Kinner, R Bruno, R Alati, L BurnsAims To examine the self-reported personal wellbeing of a sample of Australian injecting drug users (IDU) using a standardized instrument and determine the key correlates of variations in self-reported personal wellbeing.
Design, setting and participants Cross-sectional survey of 881 Australian IDU.
Measurements Self-reported personal wellbeing collected using the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI).
Findings IDU scored significantly lower than the general Australian population on the PWI and all subscales. Lower PWI scores were associated with a range of socio-demographic, drug use and other health and social characteristics. Across all PWI subscales, lower personal wellbeing scores were associated with unemployment, past 6-month mental health problems and more frequent injecting (all P < 0.05).
Conclusions The PWI is sufficiently sensitive to distinguish between IDU and the general population, and to identify key correlates of PWI among IDU. Some domains canvassed within the scale, such as health, standard of living and life achievements, are well within the scope of current intervention strategies, such as pharmacotherapy maintenance treatment and housing and employment support services. This suggests that the PWI could be useful in clinical settings by allowing structured identification of the areas of a person's life to be addressed as a part of a treatment regimen. In order to inform targeted prevention and intervention efforts, longitudinal studies of PWI and its correlates among IDU are required.
Design, setting and participants Cross-sectional survey of 881 Australian IDU.
Measurements Self-reported personal wellbeing collected using the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI).
Findings IDU scored significantly lower than the general Australian population on the PWI and all subscales. Lower PWI scores were associated with a range of socio-demographic, drug use and other health and social characteristics. Across all PWI subscales, lower personal wellbeing scores were associated with unemployment, past 6-month mental health problems and more frequent injecting (all P < 0.05).
Conclusions The PWI is sufficiently sensitive to distinguish between IDU and the general population, and to identify key correlates of PWI among IDU. Some domains canvassed within the scale, such as health, standard of living and life achievements, are well within the scope of current intervention strategies, such as pharmacotherapy maintenance treatment and housing and employment support services. This suggests that the PWI could be useful in clinical settings by allowing structured identification of the areas of a person's life to be addressed as a part of a treatment regimen. In order to inform targeted prevention and intervention efforts, longitudinal studies of PWI and its correlates among IDU are required.
History
Journal
AddictionVolume
105Issue
12Pagination
2141 - 2148Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.Location
Abingdon, EnglandPublisher DOI
ISSN
0965-2140eISSN
1360-0443Language
engPublication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal; C Journal articleCopyright notice
2010, The Authors, AddictionUsage metrics
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