The Health Toll of Encampment Sweeps: A Descriptive Analysis of People Who Use Drugs in Massachusetts

Shaw, Leah C.; Jimenez, Yuni S.; Sproesser, Darien M.; Baumgartner, Katrina; Krakower, Douglas S.; Bordeu, Michelle; Mimiaga, Matthew J.; Bositis, Christopher M.; Bazzi, Angela R.; Biello, Katie B.

doi:10.1007/s11524-025-01057-9

Table 1 Sociodemographics, participant characteristics, and other key variables of interest among a cohort of 155 people in Massachusetts, stratified by experience of relocation or encampment sweep in the last year

From: The Health Toll of Encampment Sweeps: A Descriptive Analysis of People Who Use Drugs in Massachusetts

	Overall N (%) (N = 155)	Did not experience an encampment sweep in the past year^a N (%) (n = 96; 61.9%)	Experienced an encampment sweep in the past year^a N (%) (n = 59; 38.1%)	P-value^b.c,d
Sociodemographics and participant characteristics
Age (years), median (IQR)	40.0 (35, 47)	40.5 (35, 50)	40.0 (35, 46)	0.294^b
Gender identity^e
Cisgender woman	70 (45.2)	40 (41.7)	30 (50.9)	0.594^d
Cisgender man	82 (52.9)	54 (56.3)	28 (47.5)
Non-binary or transgender	3 (1.9)	2 (2.1)	1 (1.7)
Race/ethnicity^f				0.850^d
White and non-Hispanic	112 (72.3)	67 (69.8)	45 (76.3)
Black and non-Hispanic	13 (8.4)	9 (9.4)	4 (6.8)
Multi-racial or other race and non-Hispanic	7 (4.5)	5 (5.2)	2 (3.4)
Hispanic or Latino/a of any race	23 (14.8)	15 (15.6)	8 (13.6)
Primary language				0.675^d
English	149 (96.1)	93 (96.9)	56 (94.9)
Spanish	6 (3.9)	3 (3.1)	3 (5.1)
Level of education				0.894^c
Some high school	33 (21.3)	21 (21.9)	12 (20.3)
Completed high school or GED	60 (38.7)	38 (39.6)	22 (37.3)
At least some college	62 (40.0)	37 (38.5)	25 (42.4)
Weekly earnings, median (IQR)	105 (0, 350)	140 (50, 385)	100 (50, 385)	0.185^b
Location of recruitment				0.352^c
Cambridge	129 (83.2)	82 (85.4)	47 (79.7)
Lawrence	26 (16.8)	14 (14.6)	12 (20.3)
Homeless or unstably housed, past month^g	136 (87.7)	78 (81.3)	58 (98.3)	0.001^d
Recently incarcerated^h	18 (11.6)	9 (9.4)	9 (15.3)	0.267^c
Ownership of belongings
Ownership of a cell phone or smartphone, current	123 (79.4)	80 (83.3)	43 (72.9)	0.119^c
Lost access to phone or phone service, past 3 months (n = 123)	86 (69.9)	51 (63.8)	35 (81.4)	0.042^c
Measures of mental health
Mental health PHQ-4, median (IQR)	7 (4, 10)	5 (3, 8)	9 (5, 12)	< 0.001^b
Measure of social support	9.8 (8, 11.5)	10 (8, 12)	9 (7.8, 11)	0.129^b
Access and utilization of the healthcare system
Did not feel welcome in medical offices/clinics, in generalⁱ	40 (25.8)	17 (17.7)	23 (39.0)	0.003^c
Treatment for infections due to IDU, past year	47 (30.3)	24 (25.0)	23 (39.0)	0.066^c
Medication for opioid use disorder, current^j	73 (47.1)	42 (43.8)	31 (52.5)	0.287^c
Substance use history
Substances used, past month
Opioids^k	139 (89.7)	84 (87.5)	55 (93.2)	0.292^d
Stimulants^l	139 (89.7)	85 (88.5)	54 (91.5)	0.601^d
Downers or sedatives^m	106 (68.4)	58 (60.4)	48 (81.4)	0.006^c
Frequency of injection, past month				0.364^c
Did not inject in past month	12 (7.7)	9 (9.4)	3 (5.1)
One day a week or less	24 (15.5)	16 (16.7)	8 (13.6)
2 to 7 times a week	33 (21.3)	21 (21.9)	12 (20.3)
2 to 6 times a day, every day	67 (43.2)	42 (43.8)	25 (42.4)
7 times a day, every day, or more	19 (12.3)	8 (8.3)	11 (18.6)
Drug-related overdose, past 3 months	33 (21.3)	23 (24.0)	10 (17.0)	0.301^c

Footnotes: Row percentages are shown for the overall cohort (N = 155) and stratified data
a Participants were asked to respond to the following statement: “Experience of being voluntarily or involuntarily (forcibly) relocated due to an ‘encampment sweep’ or ‘clean up’ of public areas where you were living in the past year.”
b Wilcoxon Rank Sum Tests were used to calculate associations for continuous variables and to compare median values
c Pearson’s Chi-square test was used to calculate associations for categorical variables
d Fisher’s exact test was used to calculate associations for categorical variables when cell size < 5
e Other gender identities, including gender-queer or something else, were assessed but not reported by participants. P-value compares cisgender men to cisgender women only due to very small and empty cells
f Other race includes Alaskan Native/Pacific Islander, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, or something else
g Homelessness and unstable housing defined as staying at least one night in the past 30 days in a shelter, public place not intended for sleeping (e.g., bus station, car, abandoned building), on the street or anywhere outside (e.g., park, sidewalk), temporarily doubled up with a friend or family member, in a temporary housing program, in a welfare or voucher hotel/motel, in a jail, prison, halfway house, drug treatment program, detox unit, or drug program housing, in a hospital, nursing home, or hospice
h Participants were asked, “Have you been held in a detention center, jail, or prison for more than 24 h?” At baseline assessment, the lookback period was 3 months. At subsequent assessments, the lookback period was 6 months
i Participants could respond ‘strongly agree’, ‘agree’, ‘neutral’, ‘disagree’, or ‘strongly disagree’. Participants who answered ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’ were categorized as not feeling welcome in medical offices or clinics in the past year
j Includes buprenorphine, methadone, or naltrexone prescribed by a clinician for opioid use disorder
k Includes use of heroin, fentanyl or other synthetic opioids, prescription opioids like painkillers, or street methadone/buprenorphine in the past month to get high
l Includes use of powder cocaine, crack cocaine, or crystal methamphetamine in the past month to get high
m Includes use of downers or sedatives (benzodiazepines like the prescription drugs Valium, Ativan, Xanax, Klonopin), Gabapentin ("Johnnies"), Prochlorperazine/Promethazine ("Phenergan") or Clonidine in the past month to get high

Back to article page