Table 1
Drug use and practices of Dublin cases of unexplained illness, compared with controls
| Case group (n=19) | Control group (n=65) | Odds ratio | 95% CI | Adjusted odds ratio | 95% CI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *p Value ≤0.05; †reported positive status for one or more. | ||||||
| Female sex | 6/19 (32) | 17/65 (26) | 1.30 | 0.37 to 4.54 | ||
| Age group 30+ | 9/19 (47) | 16/65 (25) | 2.76 | 0.94 to 8.08 | 1.39 | 0.36 to 5.26 |
| Length of time injecting ≥5 yrs | 16/19 (84) | 43/65 (66) | 2.72 | 0.80 to 12.62 | 2.69 | 0.60 to 14.95 |
| Blood borne viral status† (HIV/HBV/HCV) | 11/19 (58) | 26/65 (40) | 1.26 | 0.44 to 3.56 | ||
| Injecting heroin into vein | 12/19 (63) | 62/65 (95) | 0.08 | 0.02 to 0.34* | ||
| Injecting heroin into muscle | 17/19 (89) | 15/65 (23) | 28.33 | 7.09 to 192.2* | 27.04 | 6.53 to 187.93 |
| Injecting ≥4 times/day | 10/17 (59) | 20/61 (33) | 2.93 | 0.98 to 9.18 | ||
| Injecting cocaine | 5/19 (26) | 19/65 (29) | 0.86 | 0.25 to 2.62 | ||
| Polydrug use (heroin +) | 6/19 (32) | 24/47 (51) | 0.44 | 0.14 to 1.32 | ||
| Needle sharing | 7/17 (41) | 26/64 (41) | 1.02 | 0.33 to 3.01 | ||
| Sharing paraphernalia | 16/18 (89) | 59/65 (91) | 0.81 | 0.17 to 5.91 | ||
| Injecting heroin of lighter colour | 15/16 (94) | 49/64 (77) | 4.59 | 0.82 to 86.4 | ||
| Injecting heroin of darker colour | 14/18 (78) | 45/64 (70) | 1.47 | 0.46 to 5.73 | ||
| Injecting <0.5 g | 2/13 (15) | 23/60 (38) | 0.29 | 0.04 to 1.22 | ||
| Injecting 0.5–1.0 g | 9/13 (69) | 37/60 (62) | 1.40 | 0.40 to 5.64 | ||
| Injecting >1.0 g | 3/13 (23) | 5/60 (8) | 3.30 | 0.60 to 15.81 | ||
