Self and Professional Treatment of Skin and Soft Tissue Infections Among Women Who Inject Drugs: Implications for Wound Care Provision to Prevent Endocarditis

Background: Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) are common among people who inject drugs and can result in severe health consequences, including infective endocarditis. Numerous barriers to accessing care often prevent people who inject drugs from seeking healthcare including past negative healthcare experiences, transportation, and shame around drug use. These barriers can lead some people who inject drugs to self-care instead of seeking formal treatment.

Methods: We explored the prevalence of SSTIs and associated treatment behaviors among women who inject drugs and sell sex ( = 114). Women reported their drug use and SSTI histories. Those who experienced an SSTI reported if they self-treated their SSTIs and/or sought formal treatment.

Results: Half (50.0%) experienced at least one SSTI in the past 6 months. SSTIs were more common among those who injected painkillers (24.6% vs 8.8%, = 0.02) and who had ever been treated for endocarditis (28.1% vs 10.5%, = 0.02). SSTIs were less common among those who injected multiple times per day (17.9% vs 38.6%, = 0.01) and always injected with a sterile syringe (19.3% vs 42.1%, = 0.01). Among those who experienced an SSTI, most (85.7%) reported self-treating, and half (52.6%) sought formal care. The emergency room was the most common source of care (73.3%).

Conclusions: When experiencing SSTIs, women often opted to self-treat rather than seek formal healthcare. A lack of formal care can lead to infections progressing to serious conditions, like endocarditis. Self-treatment with non-prescribed antibiotics may further result in antibiotic-resistant infections. Low threshold, stigma free, community-based wound care programs are warranted.