Evaluation Of The Provision Of Single Use Citric Acid Sachets To ...

7Participants were approached using opportunistic sampling until the target sample sizewas met. Response rates at participating exchanges ranged from 78% to 94%, with theoverall response rate being 84%.Although the sample of 360 is only 5-10% of the IDUs who currently use needle exchangeservices in Greater Glasgow and Lanarkshire the demographic characteristics of thesample appear representative of the drug using population in these areas. For example,the ratio of 22% female participants to 78% male compares well with national figures thatconsistently show that males make up around 75% of IDUs in the UK (Hay, McKeganey &Hutchinson, 2001). The mean age of participants (29.3 years) also compares well withprevious studies of IDUs (Hay, McKeganey & Hutchinson 2001; ISD 2001). Further, thevast majo rity o f IDUs in this study repo rte d inje cting he ro in most frequently, withrelatively few injecting cocaine and other drugs. Almost all the IDUs who did inject cocainewe re res iden t in Grea te r Glasgow. As the se find ings compare we ll with those of o the rstudies (Hay, McKeganey & Hutchinson, 2001; Roberts 2002), we can be fairly confidenttha t the sample use d is as representa tive as possible o f the la rge r drug using populatio nsin Greater Glasgow and Lanarkshire.Data CollectionThe data was collected using a structured questionnaire (Appendix B). This schedule wassplit into two sections of mainly closed-ended questions. The first section asked forinfo rmatio n re ga rding pa rticipa nts’ demographic cha ra cte ristics, drug use , inje cting habitsand use of needle exchanges. The second section asked participants about their attitudesto and use of the citric acid sachets and other acidifiers.To ensure all participants would have had the opportunity to use the citric acid sachetsprovided by the needle exchanges at the time of interview, most questions referred todrug use within the previous three months.At the end o f the inte rvie w, pa rticipa nts we re a sked if the re was anything tha t the ythought could be done to encourage them to use the needle exchange more often. Allpa rticipa nts a lso had the oppo rtunity to add any comments o n impo rta nt issue s tha t the yfe lt we re not sufficien tly co ve re d in the in te rvie w. The ques tion naires we re ma rke d toshow the location, date and time of each interview.Data AnalysisThe data gathered was analysed using one-way ANOVAs, t-tests for independent samples,chi-squares and Pearson’s product moment correlation.