Characterization of a Cohort of Persons Who Use Methamphetamines in London, Ontario, and In-hospital Substance Use

Our objective was to describe the sociodemographic characteristics of a cohort of people who use methamphetamine with a history of hospitalizations in London, Ontario, including their substance use patterns, health and social service use patterns, and self-perceived quality of life. Participants were recruited from community and hospital settings in Southwest Ontario, and survey data were collected between October 2020 and May 2021. A total of 109 individuals were recruited in the study, of whom 32.1% reported a hospitalization directly related to methamphetamine use and 55.0% reported using substances during a hospitalization. The survey participants had high rates of health and social service use, as well as emergency department visits. Scores for quality of life and community integration were lower for the study participants compared with general population scores. We found that in-hospital substance use was higher than reported previously, highlighting the need to address this issue to support people who use methamphetamine in the hospital setting. Notre objectif etait de decrire les caracteristiques sociodemographiques d'une cohorte de personnes consommant de la methamphetamine et ayant des antecedents d'hospitalisation a London, en Ontario, incluant leurs habitudes de consommation de substances, leurs habitudes d'utilisation des services sociaux et de sante et leur perception de leur qualite de vie. Les participants ont ete recrutes dans les milieux communautaires et hospitaliers du sud-ouest de l'Ontario, et les donnees de l'enquete ont ete recueillies entre octobre 2020 et mai 2021. Au total, 109 personnes ont ete recrutees dans l'etude. 32,1% ont declare une hospitalisation directement liee a la consommation de methamphetamine, et 55,0% ont declare avoir consomme des substances pendant une hospitalisation. Les participants a l'enquete presentaient des taux eleves d'utilisation des services sociaux et de sante, ainsi que de visites aux urgences. Les scores de qualite de vie et d'integration dans la communaute etaient inferieurs pour les participants a l'etude par rapport aux scores de la population generale. Nous avons constate que la consommation de substances a l'hopital etait plus elevee que ce qui avait ete rapporte precedemment, ce qui souligne la necessite d'aborder cette question pour soutenir les personnes qui consomment de la methamphetamine en milieu hospitalier.