The SSAC research project Understanding performance and image-enhancing drug (PIED) injecting to improve health and minimise hepatitis C transmission is now shifting focus in its recruiting of research participants.

So far, researchers working on the study have interviewed 17 PIED consuming men in Victoria. These men have been recruited from metropolitan needle and syringe programs, online forums and from researcher contacts. All participants so far have identified as heterosexual, and the research team are now concentrating on recruiting gay men and men who have sex with men for the remainder of the Victorian sample (N=20). Interviews with Victorian health professionals are also underway, with three of seven interviews now complete. Interviews to date have included a GP, a sports psychologist and a worker from a needle and syringe program.

From late November, interviews will begin with men in Queensland and New South Wales. Participants will be sought through needle and syringe programs and other health services, online forums and print advertisements. The recruitment strategy will focus on achieving a diversity of participants, including men from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; gay men and men who have sex with men; and men living in urban, regional and rural areas. Health professionals interviewed in Queensland and New South Wales will include GPs, pharmacists, sports science doctors, needle and syringe program workers and others in contact with men who inject PIEDs.

If you would like to find out more about this study or are interested in participating, please contact Dr Aaron Hart at aaron.hart@curtin.edu.au or on 0413 952 169.