Designing a Behaviour Change Intervention to Reduce Risk of Overdose
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Designing a Behaviour Change Intervention to Reduce the Risk of Overdose
IRAS ID
289852
Contact name
Fabio Sani
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 26 days
Research summary
Research Summary
We are conducting this research in order to understand the psychosocial factors associated to non fatal overdose among people who use drugs (PWUD). We want to identify helpful strategies that will reduce number of overdoses. Once we identify these, we want to ask people with experience of overdose if they think these strategies are acceptable to be used within the population under investigation.
This research is of relevance and importance to patients and public because of the drug-related deaths public health emergency faced by Scotland in recent years.
People who have had a non fatal overdose are eligible to participate in the study. We will recruit from needle exchanges in Dundee, where people at risk of overdose go to collect drug-using equipment. Participants will be invited to participate in a interview (between 30 and 45 minutes long) about their experience of non fatal overdoses.Summary of Results
In the qualitative study, 20 adults who had experienced at least one NFOD in the previous six months were interviewed by peer researchers. Five themes were identified: 1) Social context, which included risk associated with living in the city and knowing other drug users, distrusting others, feeling pressured by peers to buy substances and by the self to use more than others; 2) Personal risk-taking triggers, both automatic associations in the form of paydays, and emotional triggers such as feeling emotionally overwhelmed or suicidal; 3) Planned and impulsive consumption, with associated reflective motivation and personality traits; 4) Risk perception, including general awareness of own and other’s risk and low awareness of tolerance; 5) Reversing overdose, presenting experience of receiving Naloxone to reverse an opioid-related overdose and the acceptability of the use of Naloxone on anyone in need.REC name
West of Scotland REC 3
REC reference
20/WS/0183
Date of REC Opinion
18 Jan 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion