Correlates of Difficult Venous Access Among People Who Inject Drugs Utilizing Medical Services in an Urban Hospital Setting

Given that difficult venous access is associated with injection behaviors that portend higher risks of health complications, clinicians and harm reduction providers should discuss venous access with their patients who use drugs and provide counseling around safer injection practices. Future interventions should be tailored to those groups at the highest risk of difficult venous access, including women who use drugs, those who are injected by others, and people with a long history of IDU.