Recreational Drug Use In The Oslo Nightlife Setting: Study Protocol For A Cross-Sectional Time Series Using Biological Markers, Self-Reported And Qualitative Data
Authors: Trond Nordfjærn, Marit Edland-Gryt, Anne Line Bretteville-Jensen, Kristin Buvik, Johanna Gripenberg
Abstract:
Recreational drug use in nightlife environments poses significant risks, including violence, injuries, impaired driving, and sexual risk-taking. This study aims to investigate the patterns of recreational drug use and user characteristics among individuals frequenting licensed premises, such as nightclubs and bars. The research will utilize both self-reports and biological markers to gather data. Additionally, staff working at licensed premises will be asked to provide their observations on drug use. The study will also employ qualitative data analysis to explore the motivations, consequences, and cultural aspects associated with recreational drug use. Furthermore, a key objective is to compare self-reported drug use with the results of oral fluid tests (OFTs) to validate the different measurement methods in this specific context.
Methods and Analyses: Data collection will be carried out among patrons (n=1000) outside licensed premises. After obtaining consent, patrons will be asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire, undergo a breath alcohol concentration test, and provide an oral fluid sample for the OFT. Patrons who report recreational drug use within the past 12 months will be requested to leave their contact information for subsequent qualitative in-depth interviews (n=30–40). In addition, staff members from licensed premises (n=500) will be invited to participate in an anonymous survey during Responsible Beverage Service Training. Survey data will be analyzed using both univariate and multivariate statistical methods, while oral fluid samples will undergo biochemical analysis to detect a wide range of drugs. The agreement between self-reported drug use and OFT results will be assessed using Cohen's κ as a measure. In-depth interviews will be coded in HyperRESEARCH and analyzed through an inductive approach. Data collection will be repeated on a biannual basis until at least 2020, enabling the examination of trends in recreational drug use over time.
Ethics and dissemination
This study has been approved by the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics. Results will be disseminated in research journals, conferences and the media.
Citation: Trond Nordfjærn, Marit Edland-Gryt, Anne Line Bretteville-Jensen, Kristin Buvik, Johanna Gripenberg Recreational Drug Use In The Oslo Nightlife Setting: Study Protocol For A Cross-sectional Time Series Using Biological Markers, Self-reported And Qualitative Data BMJ Open 2016;6:e009306 doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009306
Received: 6 July 2015, Revised: 19 November 2015, Accepted: 27 January 2016, Published: 22 April 2016
Copyright: © 2016 This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Footnotes
Contributors TN, ALB-J, ME-G and JG designed the study. KB contributed to the design of the study. TN wrote the study protocol with substantial critical input from all co-authors. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Funding
This work is carried out and mainly funded by The Department of Alcohol, Drug and Tobacco Research, Norwegian Institute of Public Health. The Norwegian institute of Public Health funds personell resources related to oral fluid analysis.
Competing interests
None declared.
Ethics approval
The study has been approved by the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics (application 2014/192).
Provenance and peer review
Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
