ABSTRACT
A survey examining the use of six dependence-producing substances (alcohol, tobacco, tranquilizers, marijuana, coca paste or "basuca," and cocaine) was conducted in Colombia in 1987. The survey population consisted of 2,800 urban residents in four cities (Barranquilla, Bogotá, Cali, and Medellín) between the ages of 12 and 64. The results indicated that substantially more men than women were using all the substances involved except tranquilizers, that high proportions of study subjects used alcohol and tobacco, that 8.1% of the study subjects could be considered alcoholics, and that another 7.3% were at risk of becoming alcoholics. User prevalences of the three illegal substances (marijuana, basuca, and cocaine) were much lower, and the prevalence of marijuana users exceeded that of the other two drugs combined. However, 1% of the male study subjects reported using basuca within the past year. The high prevalence of basuca use has important public health implications, because the drug typically does great harm to its users within a short period of time.
Subject(s)
Alcoholism/epidemiology , Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology , Tobacco Use Disorder/epidemiology , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Colombia/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
In 1987 a study was made of the consumption of dependency-producing substances in the urban population of Colombia. For this purpose the prevalence survey method was applied to a representative sample of 2,800 individuals between the ages of 12 and 64. The descriptive analysis was supplemented by the exploration of causal associations and measurement of the strength of such associations by means of the prevalence ratio coupled with calculation of the degree of statistical significance. The study included three substances whose consumption is socially accepted--alcohol, tobacco, and tranquilizers--and another three considered to be illicit--basuco (coca-paste), cocaine, and marijuana. Alcohol and tobacco were the two drugs most used by both sexes (560 and 297 per 1,000 subjects studied, respectively). Tranquilizers, the only one of the drugs in the study that was used more by women, ranked third (60 per 1,000). Reported in much smaller proportions were marijuana (11 per 1,000), basuco (6 per 1,000), and cocaine (3 per 1,000). It may be noted that the consumption of basuco has recently reached a level double that of cocaine. Analysis of the use and abuse of these substances by age, marital status, socioeconomic situation, and other variables indicates that the prevalence of consumption is higher in the medium age groups, that unmarried persons are at excess risk compared with those who are married, that men from the upper classes tend to use cocaine and marijuana, and that both sexes in the lower classes use basuco as the drug of preference. Differences in suicide rates between users and nonusers were statistically significant in the population aged 15 to 54, and it was determined that the substances of greatest risk, generally for women, were basuco and marijuana.
Subject(s)
Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology , Adolescent , Adult , Alcoholism/epidemiology , Child , Colombia , Female , Humans , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
The article presents a panoramic view of the outlook for epidemiology and its future applications under the new orientations. It is based on the documents presented to the Seminar on the uses and prospects of epidemiology, held in Buenos Aires in November 1983. It reviews the uses of epidemiology in health services, the integration of epidemiology and health administration, epidemiology applied to evaluation and to the control and surveillance of diseases, epidemiological research, and manpower training in epidemiology. The article stress throughout the need for a reorientation of activities in epidemiology so that it may become an ideal instrument for the improvement of health services and the attainment of health for all.
Subject(s)
Epidemiology/trends , Communicable Disease Control , Epidemiology/education , Evaluation Studies as Topic , Health Priorities , Health Services Administration , Humans , Population Surveillance , WorkforceABSTRACT
The article presents a panoramic view of the outlook for epidemiology and its future applications under the new orientations. It is based on the documents presented to the Seminar on the uses and prospects of epidemiology, held in Buenos Aires in November 1983. It reviews the uses of epidemiology in health services, the integration of epidemiology and health administration, epidemiology applied to evaluation and to the control and surveillance of diseases, epidemiological research, and manpower training in epidemiology. The article stress throughout the need for a reorientation of activities in epidemiology so that it may become an ideal instrument for the improvement of health services and the attainment of health for all (Au)