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    Is handedness associated with health outcomes for people who inject illicit drugs?

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Aitken, C.
    Dwyer, Robyn
    Spelman, T.
    Power, R.
    Date
    2009
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
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    Citation
    Aitken, C. and Dwyer, R. and Spelman, T. and Power, R. 2009. Is handedness associated with health outcomes for people who inject illicit drugs?. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy. 16 (5): pp. 471-477.
    Source Title
    Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy
    DOI
    10.1080/09687630802562988
    ISSN
    0968-7637
    School
    National Drug Research Institute (NDRI)
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/24072
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Approximately 10% of the global population is left-handed. Much research has been directed at handedness and health, with reports of left-handers suffering higher rates of numerous health conditions, accidents, injuries and ultimately, significantly reduced lifespans. Most previous research focused on 'well' or general-population samples; no previous investigations of the effects of handedness on injecting drug users' (IDUs) health are known. Aim: To investigate associations between handedness and health outcomes among IDUs-a marginalized population subgroup with significantly worse health than average. Methods: A total of 346 self-identified left- (9.5%) or right-handed current IDUs were recruited in the Australian states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria in late 2006 and interviewed about their health and behaviour. Findings: Many socio-demographic, health status and injury occurrence variables were evaluated univariately, but only two were significantly associated with handedness. Left-handers were significantly less likely to report recent scarring or bruising, and significantly more likely to report accidentally penetrating an artery; these variables were also significantly and independently associated (negatively and positively, respectively) with handedness in binary logistic regression. Conclusions: The lack of biological plausibility of the aforementioned variables' associations with handedness, and the contradiction in their directions of association, suggest that left-handedness among IDUs is not associated with significantly worse health outcomes. © 2009 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved.

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