Characteristics and context of fentanyl test strip use among syringe service clients in southern Wisconsin

Table 2 Characteristics of FTS use among SSP clients in southern Wisconsin

Characteristics of FTS use	n = 274
	m (SD) or n (%)
How many times have you tested drugs with a FTS?^b	26.7 (74.4)
How many times have you used drugs tested by someone else with a FTS?^b	14.4 (64.9)
How often do you test your drugs when using your drug of choice?
Never^c	12 (4.4)
Rarely	47 (17.2)
Some of the time	115 (42.0)
Most of the time	64 (23.4)
Every time	36 (13.1)
Has the test strip ever showed there was fentanyl in your drugs? Yes	261 (95.3)
Has the test strip ever showed there was no fentanyl in your drugs? Yes	194 (70.8)
Has the test strip result been confusing so you could not tell if there was fentanyl? Yes	79 (28.8)
How often do you get a positive result when you use a fentanyl test strip on your drug of choice?
Never	9 (3.3)
Rarely	44 (16.1)
About half the time	88 (32.1)
Most of the time	97 (35.4)
All of the time	36 (13.1)
Do you usually test your drug of choice with a test strip before or after you use? After	36 (13.1)
Which of the following drugs have you tested using a fentanyl test strip?^d
Cocaine	74 (27.0)
Crack cocaine	88 (32.1)
Fentanyl	101 (36.9)
Heroin	254 (92.7)
Marijuana	13 (4.7)
Methamphetamine	52 (19.0)
Opioid analgesics	31 (11.3)
Other^e	7 (2.6)
Stimulant medications like Adderall	3 (1.1)
Have you tried using a fentanyl test strip to look for a fentanyl analog in your drugs? Yes	168 (61.3)

FTS fentanyl test strip, SSP syringe service program, m mean, SD standard deviation
^aThe sample includes respondents who reported using drugs tested by themselves or by others with FTS
^bThree respondents who used drugs tested with FTS skipped these questions
^cThe twelve individuals (4.4%) who reported never using FTS to test their drug of choice were mostly comprised of individuals who had only used drugs tested by someone else (n = 10), one individual who used FTS on drugs other than their drug of choice, and one individual who likely answered this question incorrectly (given that they reported testing their drug of choice in a different question)
^dRespondents were able to select multiple drugs. All respondents who used drugs tested with FTS checked at least one option
^eOther drugs were pressed Xanax (n = 2), MDMA (n = 2), pressed pills such as Xanax and Percocet (n = 1), urine (n = 1), and “speedball,” heroin mixed with cocaine (n = 1)

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