The attendance pattern of clients at a Scottish needle exchange

Aims. To examine the pattern of attendance at a Scottish needle exchange. D esign. Semi-structured interviews and retrospective analysis of attendance patterns. Setting. A needle exchange in a Scottish city which covers the wh ole of the city. Participants. Clients and staff of the needle exchange. Me asurements. The attendance pattern of 1556 clients of the needle exchange o ver a 4-year period 1995-1998. Findings. The average frequency of attendanc e over the 4-year period was 12.7. In 1998, 23% had only visited the needle exchange once and 11% had only visited twice. Conclusions. A significant m inority of clients only attend the needle exchange once or twice a year. Th ere is a need to include information on client retention in future evaluati ons of needle and syringe exchange clinics and to specify the kind of relat ionships needle and syringe exchange clinic staff are expected to develop w ith clients and what level of client retention they should be aiming toward s in a well-run clinic.