Seeking drugs or seeking help? Escalating "doctor shopping" by young heroin users before fatal overdose.
Med J Aust
; 180(5): 211-4, 2004 Mar 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-14984339
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To identify prescription drug-seeking behaviour patterns among young people who subsequently died of heroin-related overdose.DESIGN:
Linkage of Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and Coroner's Court records from Victoria.SUBJECTS:
Two hundred and two 15-24-year-olds who died of heroin-related overdose between 6 January 1994 and 6 October 1999. MAIN OUTCOMEMEASURES:
Patterns of use of medical services and prescription drugs listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme in the years before death, and use of all drugs just before death.RESULTS:
Polydrug use was reported in 90% of toxicology reports, and prescription drugs were present in 80% of subjects. Subjects accessed medical services six times more frequently than the general population aged 14-24 years, and more than half of all prescribed drugs were those prone to misuse, such as benzodiazepines and opioid analgesics. A pattern of increasing drug-seeking behaviour in the years before death was identified, with doctor-visitation rates, number of different doctors seen and rates of prescriptions peaking in the year before death.CONCLUSIONS:
An apparent increase in "doctor shopping" in the years before heroin-related death may reflect the increasing misuse of prescription drugs, but also an increasing need for help. Identification of a pattern of escalating doctor shopping could be an opportunity for intervention, and potentially, reduction in mortality.
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Prescrições de Medicamentos
/
Aceitação pelo Paciente de Cuidados de Saúde
/
Heroína
/
Medicina de Família e Comunidade
/
Mau Uso de Serviços de Saúde
/
Dependência de Heroína
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2004
Tipo de documento:
Article