A comparison of heroin chasers with heroin injectors in Switzerland

In a cross-sectional multicentre study, we compared the characteristics of heroin chasers and heroin injectors. Subjects were 162 primarily opioid-dep endent volunteers for whom either chasing (n = 85) or injecting (n = 77) wa s the principal route of heroin administration. Each subject was rated by m eans of the Swiss version of the European Addiction Severity Index. Additio nally, subjects completed a questionnaire battery including the Severity of Dependence Scale, the Symptom Checklist SCL-90-R, a self-constructed peerg roup questionnaire and a semantic differential list to assess the connotati ve meaning of heroin chasers and injectors. The heroin injectors were older and more likely to use one or more other drugs besides heroin than the cha sers. They had longer heroin-using careers, a longer duration of detention and a higher prevalence of some type of hepatitis. In conclusion, the diffe rences between chasers and injectors were rather related to a longer histor y of heroin use than to the route of heroin administration. Copyright (C) 2 000 S. Karger AG, Basel.