Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Study on HCV and Homelessness
Among this sample of 884 homeless and impoverished adults, 22% were found to be HCV infected. Lifetime injection drug users (IDUs) (cocaine, crack, and methamphetamine) and recent daily users of crack were more likely than nonusers or less-frequent users of these drugs to be HCV-infected. Similar results were found for those who had been hospitalized for a mental health problem. Among non–injection drug users and persons in the total sample, those who reported lifetime alcohol abuse were more likely than those who did not to be HCV infected. Controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, multiple logistic regression analyses revealed IDUs have over 25 times greater odds of having HCV infection than non-IDUs. HCV infection was also predicted by older age, having started living on one's own before the age of 18, and recent chronic alcohol use. Males and recent crack users had about one and a half times greater odds of HCV infection when compared to females and non–chronic crack users.
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Abe, I think this is an interesting study, the problem that I have is the part about "controlling for sociodemographic characteristics". I think this is where a lot of quantitative research falls short, because so often it is the demographic characteristics that tell the story. By controlling for these, or basically removing them, we remove a big part of the picture.
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