A Pilot Study to Evaluate Skin Swabbing With Chlorhexidine to Prevent Skin And Soft Tissue Infections Among People Who Inject Drugs

Gabriel John Culbert

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 4

Conditions: Skin and Soft Tissue Infections (SSTIs); Opioid Use Disorder; Injection Drug Use

Treatments: Behavioral: Skin Prep Before Injecting Recreational/Street Drugs; Drug: Isopropyl Alcohol 70% Topical Application Solution; Drug: Chlorhexidine gluconate

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06733506

2018-0488

Details and patient eligibility

About

The study examined chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) swabs as a skin disinfectant in combination with a single-session safer injection training to prevent skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) in people who inject drugs.

Full description

Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) are a serious and preventable complication of intravenous drug use, yet few interventions have been developed to reduce SSTI in people who inject drugs (PWID). This study tested two interventions to reduce SSTI in PWID: 1) a single-session behavioral intervention to inculcate skin swabbing behaviors, and 2) chlorhexidine swabs to be used as for cleaning the skin prior to injecting.

Enrollment: 56 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Self-report intravenous drug use within past 30 days

Exclusion criteria

• None

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Factorial Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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56 participants in 2 patient groups

Chlorhexidine Swabs

Experimental group

Description:

Participants randomized to the experimental condition received a 2-week supply of chlorhexidine gluconate pre-saturated, single-use swabs that they were instructed to use for cleaning their skin prior to injecting for the next 2 weeks.

Treatment:

Drug: Chlorhexidine gluconate

Behavioral: Skin Prep Before Injecting Recreational/Street Drugs

Usual Care

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants randomized to a usual care condition received a 2-week supply of isopropyl alcohol swabs that that they were instructed to use for the next 2 weeks to clean their skin prior to injecting.

Treatment:

Drug: Isopropyl Alcohol 70% Topical Application Solution

Behavioral: Skin Prep Before Injecting Recreational/Street Drugs