TY - JOUR
T1 - Substance use among non-fatally injured patients attended at emergency departments in Spain
AU - Pérez, Katherine
AU - Santamariña-Rubio, Elena
AU - Rodríguez-Martos, Alicia
AU - Brugal, Ma Teresa
AU - Ricart, Isabel
AU - Suelves, Josep María
AU - de la Torre, Rafael
AU - Pujadas, Mitona
AU - Ariza, Carles
AU - Díez, Elia
AU - Nebot, Manel
AU - Ramos, Pilar
AU - Beneyto, Vicençs Martinez
AU - Plasència, Antoni
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding for this study was provided partly the Spanish National Plan on Drugs of Abuse (Delegación del Gobierno para el Plan Nacional sobre Drogas-BOE 23 dic 2003, 23560), and the Spanish Network on Drug Abuse (Red de Trastornos Adictivos-FISs G03/05, Instituto de Salud Carlos III), which are government departments. They had no further role in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the paper for publication.
Copyright:
Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2009/12/1
Y1 - 2009/12/1
N2 - Aims: To describe the prevalence of recent use of alcohol, medication, and illegal drugs among patients who attended emergency departments (EDs) as a result of suffering an injury due to any external mechanism and to identify factors associated with alcohol and drug use. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in eight university hospitals in Spain. Participants were adult patients admitted to a trauma ED. Oral fluid was used to test for psychoactive substances analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Socio-demographic data and information on circumstances of the injury were collected through interviews. Results: The analysis included 1579 patients admitted to the EDs (56.4% men). Among young people (<40 years), 21.4% of men and 8.5% of women were positive for any illegal substance, primarily cannabinoids or cocaine; 24.7% of men and 14.8% of women were positive for alcohol. Among patients ≥40 years, 7.4% of men and 1.6% of women were positive for any illegal substance, and 16.3% and 11.0% respectively for alcohol. Prevalence of substance detected varied across mechanism of injury, gender and age group. Night-time injury was associated with substance use. Conclusions: A high proportion of injured patients who were treated in an EDs tested positive for psychoactive drugs. Routine testing at trauma departments would maximize the identification of patients who may benefit from referral to specialized addiction treatment centers, or brief interventions.
AB - Aims: To describe the prevalence of recent use of alcohol, medication, and illegal drugs among patients who attended emergency departments (EDs) as a result of suffering an injury due to any external mechanism and to identify factors associated with alcohol and drug use. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in eight university hospitals in Spain. Participants were adult patients admitted to a trauma ED. Oral fluid was used to test for psychoactive substances analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Socio-demographic data and information on circumstances of the injury were collected through interviews. Results: The analysis included 1579 patients admitted to the EDs (56.4% men). Among young people (<40 years), 21.4% of men and 8.5% of women were positive for any illegal substance, primarily cannabinoids or cocaine; 24.7% of men and 14.8% of women were positive for alcohol. Among patients ≥40 years, 7.4% of men and 1.6% of women were positive for any illegal substance, and 16.3% and 11.0% respectively for alcohol. Prevalence of substance detected varied across mechanism of injury, gender and age group. Night-time injury was associated with substance use. Conclusions: A high proportion of injured patients who were treated in an EDs tested positive for psychoactive drugs. Routine testing at trauma departments would maximize the identification of patients who may benefit from referral to specialized addiction treatment centers, or brief interventions.
KW - Assessment
KW - Emergency departments
KW - Epidemiology
KW - Injury
KW - Trauma
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U2 - 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2009.06.023
DO - 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2009.06.023
M3 - Article
C2 - 19674852
AN - SCOPUS:70349983350
VL - 105
SP - 194
EP - 201
JO - Drug and Alcohol Dependence
JF - Drug and Alcohol Dependence
SN - 0376-8716
IS - 3
ER -