Methamphetamine and Injecting Drug Use Cohort Studies

Methamphetamine and Injecting Drug Use Cohort Study

Injecting drug use and methamphetamine smoking account for the majority of illicit drug-related harms and associated health care costs in Australia. Monash Rural Health, in partnership with Burnet Institute, have established the Methamphetamine and Injecting Drug Use Cohort Study to produce new evidence on the nature and extent of these harms and the effectiveness of interventions to address them.

These two studies have combined, to generate the largest cohort of active drug users in Australia:

SuperMIX - the largest and longest-running study of people who inject drugs ever conducted in Australia.
VMAX - a cohort study collecting data on long-term patterns of methamphetamine smoking in metropolitan and regional Victoria.

The studies will:

Establish the incidence of key clinical outcomes, mortality and morbidity including poor mental health, overdose, blood-borne viral infections, injecting-related injuries and disease, and chronic diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Determine the effectiveness of existing and novel health service interventions, such as drug treatment, take-home naloxone and supervised injecting facilities on improving health outcomes and supporting long-term cessation from drug use.
Evaluate the impact of syndemic and structural factors such as homelessness and imprisonment on these outcomes.

The new cohort design allows direct comparison of trajectories of the two types of illicit drug use that drive most of the costs and health burden attributed to illicit drugs. The use of extensive data linkage means the study will provide the first comprehensive analysis of how best to reduce or eliminate these harms in the Australian rural and metropolitan context. This study will also provide unique data to inform and refine priority responses to prevent drug-related harms in a changing social, health and service delivery environment over the coming decade.

Monash Rural Health will have study staff based at Bendigo, Latrobe Valley, Mildura and Shepparton.

The study is funded by the National Health and Research Council (NHMRC).

MIXMAX Investigators

News: VMAX and MIXMAX Studies

Significant boost for research on illicit drugs in regional Victoria

Novel findings concerning the experience of anxiety and depression in community-based methamphetamine smokers

New research highlights association of panic attacks with methamphetamine use

Diving deeper to measure the toll of ‘ice’ on mental health

More support needed for parents who use methamphetamine

Hine, R., Ward, B., Kippen, R., Sutton, K., Duncan, Z., Quinn, B., Powell, A., & Dietze, P. (2023). Prevalence and Correlates of Panic Attacks Among People Who Primarily Smoke Methamphetamine. Int J Ment Health Addiction.
Rathnayake, K., Agius, P. A., Ward, B., Hickman, M., Maher, L., Stoové, M., Doyle, J. S., Hellard, M., Wilkinson, A., Quinn, B., Crawford, S., Sutton, K., & Dietze, P. (2023). The impacts of COVID-19 measures on drug markets and drug use among a cohort of people who use methamphetamine in Victoria, Australia. Addiction, 118(8), 1557-1568.
Nightingale, C., Kippen, R., Ward, B., Stoove, M., Quinn, B., Sutton, K., & Dietze, P. (2023). The prevalence of drug driving and being caught for a drug driving offense among community-recruited people who use methamphetamine in metropolitan and rural Victoria, Australia. Traffic Injury Prevention, 24(2), 103-108.
Duncan, Z., Kippen, R., Sutton, K., Ward, B., Agius, P. A., Quinn, B., & Dietze, P. (2022). Correlates of anxiety and depression in a community cohort of people who smoke methamphetamine. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 56(8), 964-973.
Duncan, Z., Kippen, R., Sutton, K., Ward, B., Quinn, B., & Dietze, P. (2022). Health Service Use for Mental Health Reasons in a Cohort of People Who Use Methamphetamine Experiencing Moderate to Severe Anxiety or Depression. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.
Ward, B., Moller, C., Maybery, D., Weimand, B., Krause, M., Dietze, P., Harvey, P., Kippen, R., McCormick, F., Lloyd-Jones, M., & Reupert, A. (2022). Interventions to support parents who use methamphetamine: a narrative systematic review. Children and Youth Services Review, 139, [106525].
Leach, M. J., Ward, B., Kippen, R., Quinn, B., Agius, P. A., Sutton, K., Peterson, J., & Dietze, P. M. (2022). Level and correlates of social support in a community-based sample of Australians who primarily smoke methamphetamine. Health and Social Care in the Community, 30(6), e4950-e4960.

Quinn, B., Ward, B., Agius, P., Jenkinson, R., Hickman, M., Sutton, K., Hall, C., McKetin, R., Farrell, M. P., Cossar, R., & Dietze, P. M. (2021). A prospective cohort of people who use methamphetamine in Melbourne and non-metropolitan Victoria, Australia: Baseline characteristics and correlates of methamphetamine dependence. Drug and Alcohol Review, 40(7), 1239-1248.

Ward, B., Kippen, R., Reupert, A., Maybery, D., Agius, P. A., Quinn, B., Jenkinson, R., Hickman, M., Sutton, K., Goldsmith, R., & Dietze, P. M. (2021). Parent and child co-resident status among an Australian community-based sample of methamphetamine smokers. Drug and Alcohol Review, 40(7), 1275-1280.

Ward, B., Lane, R., Quinn, B., & Russell, G. (2021). Qualitative understandings of access to primary care services for consumers who use methamphetamine. Australian Journal of General Practice, 50(7), 505-510.
New study in Bendigo looks at methamphetamine use, Bendigo Advertiser, 1 December 2016

Graduate research opportunities

The MIXMAX study will provide a range of opportunities for graduate research students looking for rewarding honours, masters or PhD projects.

Please contact Associate Professor Bernadette Ward.