Don C Des Jarlais
Biographic Data
| ID | 651328 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Don C Des Jarlais |
| GIVEN NAMES | Don C Des |
| FAMILY NAME | Jarlais |
| SIGNATURE | DES JARLAIS D C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Mount Sinai Beth Israel |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0157-8168 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 214 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 377 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 214 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1970 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Building standards of psychedelic care
Substance Use Monitoring Among People Who Use Drugs Using a Novel Assay to Test Dried Blood Spot Specimens
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The development of comprehensive strategies to understand emerging trends in substance use is necessary to design effective prevention and harm reduction strategies for people who use drugs (PWUD). Dried blood spots (DBS) can be used as a non-conventional drug testing approach that meets Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accuracy and precision guidelines. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: From July 2021 to July 2022, 1,559 …
“New Normal
Syringe services programs (SSPs) provide critical evidence-based public health services that decrease harms from drug use for people who use drugs (PWUD). Many SSPs have experienced significant and evolving COVID-19-related disruptions. We aimed to characterize the impacts of COVID-19 on SSP operations in the United States approximately two years into the pandemic. teleconference and brief electronic survey evaluating the impacts of COVID-19 on p…
Naloxone Carriage Among People Who Inject Drugs in New York City
Fentanyl Polysubstance Use Patterns and Their Associations With Hepatitis C Virus, Skin and Soft Tissue Infections, and Non‐Fatal Overdose Among People Who Inject Drugs in New York City
Micro-costing analysis of a community-based psychiatric intervention among people who inject drugs in Haiphong, Vietnam
Costs for a community-based psychiatric intervention were very low in our study. This data can be used by policy makers in Vietnam to improve a mental health system that is poorly developed and expensive for the patient
Heroin, Fentanyl, Intentional Fentanyl Use and HIV Transmission in a Community-Recruited Sample of Persons Who Inject Drugs, New York City
Harms associated with injecting in public spaces
Impact and cost-effectiveness of interventions to eliminate hepatitis C virus among people who inject drugs in Haiphong, Vietnam
Using RDS surveys and other care settings to scale-up HCV-testing and treatment are cost-effective strategies to reduce HCV incidence among PWID in Vietnam
Oregon’s Emerging Psilocybin Services Workforce
New legal frameworks for supervised psychedelic services are emerging, with Oregon and Colorado implementing programs to train and license psilocybin facilitators. This study describes Oregon's early psilocybin facilitator workforce and assesses state-approved training programs. The Open Psychedelic Evaluation Nexus (OPEN) reviewed Oregon Health Authority-approved training programs and surveyed facilitators who had completed or were enrolled in t…
Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021
BACKGROUND: Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mort…
Global age-sex-specific mortality, life expectancy, and population estimates in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1950–2021, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic
BACKGROUND: Estimates of demographic metrics are crucial to assess levels and trends of population health outcomes. The profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on populations worldwide has underscored the need for timely estimates to understand this unprecedented event within the context of long-term population health trends. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 provides new demographic estimates for 204 cou…
Utility of self-report antiretroviral adherence for predicting HIV viral load among persons who inject drugs in Hai Phong Vietnam
In resource-limited settings, alternatives to HIV viral load testing may be necessary to monitor the health of people living with HIV. We assessed the utility of self-report antiretroviral therapy (ART) to screen for HIV viral load among persons who inject drugs in Hai Phong Vietnam, and consider differences by recent methamphetamine use. From 2016 to 2018 we recruited PWID through cross sectional surveys and collected self-report ART adherence a…
Socioeconomic and racial/ethnic spatial polarization and incarceration among people who inject drugs in 19 US metropolitan areas, 2015
The purpose of this study is to test, for the first time, the association between spatial social polarization and incarceration among people who inject drugs (PWID) in 19 large U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in 2015. PWID were recruited from MSAs for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2015 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance. Administrative data were used to describe the ZIP-code areas, counties, and MSAs where PWID liv…
Gender, homelessness, hospitalization and methamphetamine use fuel depression among people who inject drugs
Depression is alarmingly frequent in PWID. In this study taking in account the chronological relationship between sociodemographic and clinical factors and depression, risk factors were identified in this specific setting of low-to-middle income country. The findings highlight the need to develop innovative targeted psychiatric interventions with the help of supporting peers
Field Testing the “Avoid the Needle” Intervention for Persons at Risk for Transitioning to Injecting Drug Use in Tallinn, Estonia and New York City, USA
This study aimed to field tested the "Avoid the Needle" (AtN) intervention to reduce transitions from non-injecting to injecting drug use in two different epidemiological settings. Respondent driven sampling was used to recruit current non-injecting drug users (NIDUs) in Tallinn, Estonia in 2018-19 and in New York City (NYC) in 2019-20. Both persons who had never injected and persons who had previously injected but not in the last 6 months were e…
Understanding intentionality of fentanyl use and drug overdose risk
As the proportion of drug overdose deaths involving fentanyl continues to increase in the US, monitoring exposure to and possible changes in intention to use fentanyl among people who use drugs (PWUD) is of great public health importance. This mixed methods study examines intentionality of fentanyl use among persons who inject drugs (PWID) in New York City during a period of unprecedently high rates of drug overdose mortality. Between October 202…
Recurrent Injecting Drug Use as a Mediator between Psychiatric Disorder and Non-Fatal Overdose
Background Unintentional drug overdose has increased markedly in the United States. Studies document an association between psychiatric disorder and unintentional overdose; we extend this research through a preliminary test of a causal model of recurrent injection drug use mediating this relationship.Methods In a cross-sectional study of 241 adults in New York City with a possible current substance use disorder, we conducted conventional and Imai…
Development and assessment of a community‐based screening tool for mental health disorders among people who inject drugs
Mental Disorders Are Associated With Leukocytes Telomere Shortening Among People Who Inject Drugs
Premature biological aging, assessed by shorter telomere length (TL) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) alterations, has been reported among people with major depressive disorders or psychotic disorders. However, these markers have never been assessed together among people who inject drugs (PWIDs), although mental disorders are highly prevalent in this population, which, in addition, is subject to other aggravating exposures. Diagnosis of mental disor…
Gender Differences in HIV, HCV risk and Prevention Needs Among People who Inject drug in Vietnam
We examined gender differences among people who inject drug (PWID) in Hai Phong, Vietnam in term of blood-borne infections, risk behaviors, and access to care. Using respondent-driven-sampling surveys, we recruited 3146 PWID from 2016 to 2018. Inclusion criteria included a positive urine test for heroin and recent injection marks. There were 155 female PWID (4,9%), including 82 at RDS-2016, 32 at RDS-2017 and 38 at RDS-2018. The age mean was 36.3…
I Didn’t Know What They’re Gonna Do to Me
Youth between the ages of 13 and 24 account for over 20% of new HIV diagnoses in the United States but are the least likely age group to be HIV tested in healthcare settings including the emergency department. This is in part due to the fact that almost 50% of youth decline testing when offered. We elucidated youth patients' perspectives on barriers to and facilitators of routine HIV testing of youth in an urban emergency department setting. Thir…
Barriers to engaging people who use drugs in harm reduction services during the Covid-19 pandemic
A stakeholder-driven framework for measuring potential change in the health risks of people who inject drugs (PWID) during the Covid-19 pandemic
This measurement framework is intended to increase the quality and timeliness of research on the impacts of COVID-19 in the context of the current pandemic and future crises. Next steps include a ranking process to narrow the drivers of change in health risks to a concise set of indicators that adequately represent framework components, can be written as measurable indicators, and are quantifiable using existing data sources, as well as a publicl…
Addicts Who Survived
The relevance of drug injectors' social and risk networks for understanding and preventing HIV infection
The Differential Effects of Face-to-Face and Computer Interview Modes
Objectives. This study assessed the differential effects of face-to-face interviewing and audio-computer assisted self-interviewing (audio-CASI) on categories of questions. Methods. Syringe exchange program participants (n = 1417) completed face-to-face interviews or audio-CASI. The questionnaire was categorized into the groups “stigmatized behaviors,” “neutral behaviors,” and “psychological distress.” Interview modes were compared for questions …
Sociometric risk networks and risk for HIV infection
OBJECTIVES: This study examined whether networks of drug-injecting and sexual relationships among drug injectors are associated with individual human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) serostatus and with behavioral likelihood of future infection. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 767 drug injectors in New York City was performed with chain-referral and linking procedures to measure large-scale (sociometric) risk networks. Graph-theoretic algebraic …
Effectiveness of Respondent-Driven Sampling for Recruiting Drug Users in New York City
Alternatives to the Randomized Controlled Trial
Public health researchers are addressing new research questions (e.g., effects of environmental tobacco smoke, Hurricane Katrina) for which the randomized controlled trial (RCT) may not be a feasible option. Drawing on the potential outcomes framework (Rubin Causal Model) and Campbellian perspectives, we consider alternative research designs that permit relatively strong causal inferences. In randomized encouragement designs, participants are ran…
Syringe-mediated drug sharing among injecting drug users
Public awareness of Aids in Rwanda
Regulating controversial programs for unpopular people
One third of all cases of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the United States are associated with the injection of illicit drugs. There is mounting evidence for the effectiveness of syringe exchange programs in reducing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behavior and HIV transmission among injection drug users. Expansion of syringe exchange would require increased public funding and undoubtedly would include government regulat…
Temporal Trends in Spatial Access to Pharmacies that Sell Over-the-Counter Syringes in New York City Health Districts
Respondent-Driven Sampling in a Study of Drug Users in New York City
Beth Israel Medical Center (BIMC), in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), used respondent-driven sampling (RDS) in a study of HIV seroprevalence among drug users in New York City in 2004. We report here on operational issues with RDS including recruitment, coupon distribution, storefront operations, police and community relations, and the overall lessons we learned. Projec…
HIV Incidence Among Injection Drug Users in New York City, 1990 to 2002
Objectives. We sought to estimate HIV incidence among injection drug users (IDUs) in New York City from 1990 to 2002 to assess the impact of an expansion of syringe exchange services. Syringe exchange increased greatly during this period, from 250000 to 3000000 syringes exchanged annually. Methods. Serum samples were obtained from serial cross-sectional surveys of 3651 IDUs. HIV-positive samples were tested with the Serologic Test Algorithm for R…
Shooting galleries and Aids
The paper by Marquis, et al,21 in this issue of the Journal exemplifies this new activity in collaborative social and behavioral epidemiologic research. Working as a team in a peri-urban shanty town in Lima, the authors combined four research approaches to demonstrate that uncorralled chick- ens were responsible for much fecal contamination of house- hold areas, that fecal specimens from these birds contained viable Campylobacter jejuni (an impor…
Aids and Legal Access to Sterile Drug Injection Equipment
Legal access to sterile injection equipment has been a primary strategy for preventing the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) among persons who inject illicit drugs in almost all developed countries. This strategy has remained highly controversial in the United States, with only a small number of localities adopting it. This article reviews different techniques of providing legal access—over-the-counter sales and syringe exchanges—researc…
Declining seroprevalence in a very large HIV epidemic
OBJECTIVES: This study assessed recent trends in HIV seroprevalence among injecting drug users in New York City. METHODS: We analyzed temporal trends in HIV seroprevalence from 1991 through 1996 in 5 studies of injecting drug users recruited from a detoxification program, a methadone maintenance program, research storefronts in the Lower East Side and Harlem areas, and a citywide network of sexually transmitted disease clinics. A total of 11,334 …
Stigmatization of Newly Emerging Infectious Diseases
Objectives. We assessed relationships between sociodemographic characteristics and mental health status and knowledge of, being worried about, and stigmatization of 2 emerging infectious diseases: AIDS and SARS. Methods. We conducted a random-digit-dialed survey of 928 residents of the New York City metropolitan area as part of a study of the effects of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Questions added for this study concerned respondent…
Social and Political Factors Predicting the Presence of Syringe Exchange Programs in 96 US Metropolitan Areas
Community activism can be important in shaping public health policies. For example, political pressure and direct action from grassroots activists have been central to the formation of syringe exchange programs (SEPs) in the United States. We explored why SEPs are present in some localities but not others, hypothesizing that programs are unevenly distributed across geographic areas as a result of political, socioeconomic, and organizational chara…
Syringe exchange in the United States, 1996
OBJECTIVES: This paper provides 1996 information on the status of US syringe exchange programs and compares these findings with data from our 1994 survey. METHODS: In November 1996, questionnaires were mailed to 101 syringe exchange programs. Program directors were contacted to conduct telephone interviews based on the mailed questionnaires. Data collected included number of syringes exchanged, syringe exchange program operations, legal status, a…
Drug-related arrest rates and spatial access to syringe exchange programs in New York City health districts
Evaluating Recruitment among Female Sex Workers and Injecting Drug Users at Risk for HIV Using Respondent-driven Sampling in Estonia
HIV Prevalence, Risk Behaviors, and High-Risk Sexual and Injection Networks Among Young Women Injectors Who Have Sex With Women
Women injection drug users who have sex with women (WSW IDUs) constitute 20% to 30% of American women IDUs.1 Compared with other women IDUs, WSW IDUs have higher HIV prevalence and incidence rates and a greater likelihood of engaging in high-risk injection and sexual practices with men.1–16 Previous reports suggested that WSW IDUs may be particularly likely to engage in drug injection and sex with men who have sex with men (MSM)1,2,5,6,9,17–19 an…
Aids risk reduction and reduced HIV seroconversion among injection drug users in Bangkok
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seroconversion was studied in a group of 173 injection drug users in Bangkok, Thailand, who had been previously tested for HIV and were interviewed and retested in the fall of 1989. Ten percent of the group had seroconverted. Two factors protected against HIV seroconversion: having stopped sharing injection equipment in response to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and having a regular sexual partner…
Spatial Access to Syringe Exchange Programs and Pharmacies Selling Over-the-Counter Syringes as Predictors of Drug Injectors' Use of Sterile Syringes
Objectives. We examined relationships of spatial access to syringe exchange programs (SEPs) and pharmacies selling over-the-counter (OTC) syringes with New York City drug injectors’ harm reduction practices. Methods. Each year from 1995 to 2006, we measured the percentage of 42 city health districts’ surface area that was within 1 mile of an SEP or OTC pharmacy. We applied hierarchical generalized linear models to investigate relationships betwee…
Ethical Considerations in Surveys Employing Respondent-Driven Sampling
DeJong et al. discussed ethical considerations in surveys employing respondent-driven sampling with high-risk populations, including injection drug users (IDUs), in Lebanon.1 While we commend the authors' work, several concerns bear comment. First, almost all concerns raised as ethical problems in implementing respondent-driven sampling apply universally to HIV research with at-risk populations irrespective of the sampling methodology and are not…
Rapid Assessment and Response Studies of Injection Drug Use
Objectives. We evaluated the World Health Organization’s rapid assessment and response (RAR) method of assessing injection drug use and its associated health problems, focusing on knowledge gain, capacity building, and whether RAR leads to the development of interventions reducing the health effects of injection drug use. Methods. Data were derived from RAR studies conducted in Beijing, China; Bogotá, Colombia; Greater Rosario, Argentina; Hanoi, …
Changes in HIV Seroprevalence and Related Behaviors Among Male Injection Drug Users Who Do and Do Not Have Sex With Men
Objectives. This study examined HIV prevalence and risk behaviors among male injection drug users (IDUs) who have sex with men and among other male IDUs. Methods. Male IDUs were interviewed and tested for HIV at a detoxification clinic during 1990 to 1994 and 1995 to 1999. Analyses compared male IDUs who do and do not have sex with men within and between periods. Results. Initially, HIV seroprevalence and risk behaviors were higher among IDUs who…
Shifts to Risk and Reward
The expected payoffs for the risky alternatives in a standard shift-to-risk experiment were investigated rather than controlled. As predicted, a significant shift to reward was found. The group expectations of the risky payoffs were higher than the means of the individual expectations. The shift to reward was significantly, but lowly, correlated with a cotemporaneous shift to risk. Implications of the shift to reward are discussed
Memories From the Street
Additional informationNotes on contributorsDavid T. CourtwrightDavid T. Courtwright is Chairman of the History Department at the University of Hartford. From 1974 to 1976, he conducted oral history interviews for the Houston Metropolitan Archives and Research Center.Herman JosephHerman Joseph is Research Scientist for the Bureau of Cost Effectiveness and Research, New York State Division of Substance Abuse Services. He has previously interviewed …
Examining a Causal Model of Early Drug Involvement among Inner-City Junior High School Youths
Reflecting the need to construct more inclusive, socially and culturally relevant conceptions of drug use than currently exist, this paper investigates the determinants of drug involvement among inner-city youths within the context of a causal model. The drug involvement of the Black and Puerto Rican junior high school girls and boys studied is hypothesized to result from their home composition, felt relationships with parents, attitudes toward s…
Social Science and Aids
Aids and Self-Organization among Intravenous Drug Users
Gays and intravenous (i.v.) drug users are the two largest risk groups for AIDS. Gays, unlike drug users, have formed many organizations to deal with AIDS. Data are presented indicating that gay individuals have more risk-reducing behavioral changes than have i.v. drug users. It is also shown that i.v. drug users are more likely to protect themselves if their acquaintances do so. It is suggested that collective self-organization can lead to peer …
Aids Prevention among IV Drug Users
Don C. Des Jarlais, Samuel R. Friedman, AIDS Prevention among IV Drug Users: Potential Conflicts between Research Design and Ethics, IRB: Ethics & Human Research, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Jan. - Feb., 1987), pp. 6-8
Public awareness of Aids in Rwanda
The psychology of preventing Aids among intravenous drug users
The psychology of preventing Aids among intravenous drug users
Needle sharing among Ivdus at risk for Aids
Needle sharing among IVDUs at risk for AIDS. D C Des Jarlais, and S R FriedmanCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.78.11.1498 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Shooting galleries and Aids
The paper by Marquis, et al,21 in this issue of the Journal exemplifies this new activity in collaborative social and behavioral epidemiologic research. Working as a team in a peri-urban shanty town in Lima, the authors combined four research approaches to demonstrate that uncorralled chick- ens were responsible for much fecal contamination of house- hold areas, that fecal specimens from these birds contained viable Campylobacter jejuni (an impor…
Addicts Who Survived
Addicts who Survived
Journal Article Addicts Who Survived: An Oral History of Narcotic Use in America, 1923–1965. By David Courtwright, Herman Joseph, and Don Des Jarlais. (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1989. xvi + 399 pp. $24.95.) Get access John Duffy John Duffy Professor Emeritus University of Maryland College Park and Tulane University Medical School Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, …
Impact of Aids on Puerto Rican Intravenous Drug Users
This article examines HIV risk for Hispanics, particularly Puerto Ricans who are intravenous (IV) drug users. First, national statistics on AIDS cases as well as major epidemiological studies are analyzed to establish risk, in general, for Hispanics. There are epidemiological differences when the authors compare ethnic minority groups to whites in the incidence of the disease, the relative importance of transmission routes, and the length of surv…
HIV among drug injectors
(1991). HIV among drug injectors: The epidemic and the response. AIDS Care: Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 239-250
Assessing the Effectiveness of Drug Abuse Treatment
A randomized trial of an interim methadone maintenance clinic
BACKGROUND. Interim methadone maintenance has been proposed as a method of providing clinically effective services to heroin addicts waiting for treatment in standard comprehensive methadone maintenance programs. METHODS. A clinic that provided initial medical evaluation, methadone medication, and AIDS education, but did not include formal drug abuse counseling or other social support services was established in New York City. A sample of 301 vol…
Implications of the revised surveillance definition
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has proposed revising the AIDS surveillance definition to include any HIV-seropositive person with a CD4 cell count of less than 200 cells per microliter. Based on a study of persons receiving treatment for HIV infection, this new definition would lead to an estimated 50% increase in the number of persons recognized as living with AIDS. Among 440 HIV-seropositive research subjects recruited from drug treatmen…
History, biography, and HIV infection
History, biography, and HIV infection. S R Friedman, P H Kleinman, and D C Des JarlaisCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.82.1.125 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Aids and Legal Access to Sterile Drug Injection Equipment
Legal access to sterile injection equipment has been a primary strategy for preventing the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) among persons who inject illicit drugs in almost all developed countries. This strategy has remained highly controversial in the United States, with only a small number of localities adopting it. This article reviews different techniques of providing legal access—over-the-counter sales and syringe exchanges—researc…
Retention of Patients Who Entered Methadone Maintenance Via an Interim Methadone Clinic
Time in treatment is considered an important predictor of good outcomes for drug abuse treatment. Patient retention would be of particular concern for low-service types of treatment. Interim methadone maintenance was developed as an alternative to waiting lists and as a method of providing HIV risk-reduction services to heroin addicts waiting for treatment, and does not include the regular counseling required in comprehensive methadone treatment.…
Aids risk reduction and reduced HIV seroconversion among injection drug users in Bangkok
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seroconversion was studied in a group of 173 injection drug users in Bangkok, Thailand, who had been previously tested for HIV and were interviewed and retested in the fall of 1989. Ten percent of the group had seroconverted. Two factors protected against HIV seroconversion: having stopped sharing injection equipment in response to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and having a regular sexual partner…
The relevance of drug injectors' social and risk networks for understanding and preventing HIV infection
Regulating controversial programs for unpopular people
One third of all cases of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the United States are associated with the injection of illicit drugs. There is mounting evidence for the effectiveness of syringe exchange programs in reducing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behavior and HIV transmission among injection drug users. Expansion of syringe exchange would require increased public funding and undoubtedly would include government regulat…
Tuberculosis knowledge among New York City injection drug users
Structured interviews measuring tuberculosis knowledge were administered to 494 New York City injection drug users, 31% of whom reported a history of having a reactive tuberculin skin test. Medical records review of a subsample confirmed the validity of self-reported data. Most respondents understood the mechanisms of tuberculosis transmission. Three fourths of the subjects did not fully understand the distinction between a reactive skin test and…
Medicine (208 works) · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk (154 works) · Environmental health (122 works) · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions (107 works) · Psychiatry (98 works) · Demography (89 works) · Family medicine (75 works) · Public health (67 works) · Psychology (64 works) · Drug (52 works)