RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The goal of this study was to estimate excess death due to external causes among 18- to 64-year-olds with alcohol use disorder (AUD) who were treated at public outpatient treatment centers, and the time elapsed from treatment initiation to death. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective longitudinal study among 7,012 outpatients aged 18 to 64 years who began treatment for AUD between 1997 and 2007. Deaths due to external causes (intentional and unintentional injuries) were monitored until the end of 2008. Person-years (PY) of follow-up and crude mortality rates (CMRs) were calculated for all study variables, for each sex, and for 2 age groups (18 to 34 and 35 to 64 years). Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were estimated by age group and sex. Survival was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression. RESULTS: We recorded 114 deaths due to external causes. The CMR was 2.7 per 1,000 PY (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.2 to 3.2), with significant gender differences only among younger individuals (CMR for males = 3.9 per 1,000 PY [95% CI: 2.2 to 5.5] and CMR for females = 2.8 per 1,000 PY [95% CI: 0.1 to 5.6]). Unintentional injury was the most common cause of death (n = 65), of which acute poisoning (n = 25; 38.5%) and traffic accidents (n = 15; 23.1%) were the most prevalent. Suicide accounted for 91.8% (n = 49) of deaths from intentional injuries. The excess of mortality between the AUD group and the general population (SMR) was 9.5 higher than in the general population (95% CI: 7.9 to 11.4), with significant differences between genders (SMR = 6.1 [95% CI: 4.9 to 7.5] in males and SMR = 20.4 [95% CI: 13.9 to 29.9] in females). Approximately 35% of deaths among individuals aged <35 years and 60% among women occurred within a year of initiating treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the importance of excess of mortality among people with AUD and patients' vulnerability during the initial years of treatment. Preventing premature deaths due to external causes among women and younger patients with AUD is a priority.
Assuntos
Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Álcool/mortalidade , Ferimentos e Lesões/mortalidade , Adolescente , Adulto , Fatores Etários , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Álcool/complicações , Feminino , Humanos , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Estudos Retrospectivos , Fatores Sexuais , Espanha/epidemiologia , Ferimentos e Lesões/etiologia , Adulto JovemRESUMO
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to estimate the magnitude of gender differences in hazardous drinking among middle-aged people and to analyse whether these differences are associated with contextual factors, such as public policies or socioeconomic factors. METHODS: Cross-sectional design. The study population included 50- to 64-year-old residents of 16 European countries who participated in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe project conducted in 2010-12 (n = 26 017). We estimated gender differences in hazardous drinking in each country. To determine whether different social context or women's empowerment variables were associated with gender differences in hazardous drinking, we fitted multilevel Poisson regression models adjusted for various individual and country-level variables, which yielded prevalence ratios and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). RESULTS: Prevalence of hazardous drinking was significantly higher in men than women [30.2% (95% CI: 29.1-31.4%) and 18.6% (95% CI: 17.7-19.4%), respectively] in most countries, although the extent of these differences varied between countries. Among individuals aged 50-64 years in Europe, risk of becoming a hazardous drinker was 1.69 times higher (95% CI: 1.45-1.97) in men, after controlling for individual and country-level variables. We also found that lower values of the gender empowerment measure and higher unemployment rates were associated with higher gender differences in hazardous drinking. CONCLUSION: Countries with the greatest gender differences in hazardous drinking were those with the most restrictions on women's behaviour, and the greatest gender inequalities in daily life. Lower gender differences in hazardous drinking seem to be related to higher consumption among women.
Assuntos
Consumo de Bebidas Alcoólicas/epidemiologia , Bebidas Alcoólicas , Estudos Transversais , Emigrantes e Imigrantes/estatística & dados numéricos , Europa (Continente)/epidemiologia , Feminino , Identidade de Gênero , Produto Interno Bruto , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Prevalência , Fatores Sexuais , Meio Social , Fatores SocioeconômicosRESUMO
The informal social control over alcohol consumption that was traditional in Southern European countries has weakened. At the same time there is an increase in binge drinking and drunkenness among young people in Spain. To mitigate this problem, regulations on alcohol and driving and restrictions on the sale and consumption of alcohol have been adopted. This paper documents the current regulations in the city of Barcelona and describes efforts to enforce them and their outcomes. Data from the municipal information systems on infringements reported for the period 2008-13 are provided. There is an increasing pressure of municipal services to enforce the rules in two areas: a) alcohol sales at night (retailers); and b) consumption in the public space (citizens). An increase in the controls of drink-driving has also taken place, and the proportion above legal limits has decreased. The largest relative increase occurred in the control of retailers. In Barcelona interventions are made to limit the supply and consumption of alcohol at low cost and during the night, and of driving under the influence of alcohol. There have been no documented episodes of massive drinking in public spaces (known as 'botellón') in the city. These actions, which complement other preventive efforts based on health education, can change the social perceptions of alcohol by minors in a direction less favorable to consumption, promoting environmental prevention.
El control social informal sobre el consumo de alcohol, tradicional en los países del Sur de Europa, se ha debilitado. Este cambio ha ido acompañado de un incremento de los episodios de consumo intensivo y borracheras en jóvenes en España. Para mitigar este problema, se han adoptado regulaciones sobre alcohol y conducción, y otras que restringen la venta y el consumo de alcohol. Este trabajo documenta las regulaciones vigentes y describe los esfuerzos realizados en la ciudad de Barcelona en este campo y sus resultados. Asimismo, se recopilan datos de infracciones denunciadas en los sistemas de información municipal para el período 2008-13.Se observa un incremento de la presión de los servicios municipales para hacer cumplir las normas en dos aspectos: a) la venta en horario nocturno (establecimientos); y b) el consumo en la vía pública (ciudadanía). Por otra parte, también se aprecia un aumento en la actividad de control de la alcoholemia de los conductores, mientras que la proporción que superan los límites legales descendió. El mayor incremento relativo se ha producido en las acciones sobre establecimientos.En Barcelona se realizan intervenciones para limitar la oferta y consumo de alcohol a bajo coste y en horario nocturno, así como la conducción bajo la influencia del alcohol. En la ciudad no se han documentado episodios de botellón masivo en espacios públicos. Estas acciones, que complementan otros esfuerzos preventivos basados en la educación para la salud, pueden modificar la percepción social del alcohol por los menores en un sentido menos favorable al consumo, contribuyendo a crear un entorno de prevención ambiental.
Assuntos
Consumo de Bebidas Alcoólicas , Comércio , Condições Sociais , Controle Social Formal , Condução de Veículo , Cidades , Etanol , Humanos , EspanhaRESUMO
The evolution of drug injection in public places is analysed using as indicator the number of syringes collected from public spaces, evaluating as well the influence of public health harm reduction interventions and of police actions, with a before and after quasi experimental study. Monthly syringe counts on the semester before and after each intervention were compared both in the involved district and in the city as a whole, using the U and z tests with a 95% confidence level. The average number of collected syringes drops from 13.132 in 2004 to 3.190 in 2012. Comparing indicators before and after health and police interventions, the opening of a facility with a supervised drug consumption room in the inner city was associated with a huge reduction in the number of abandoned syringes in the city, while its number did not rise in the district where the facility was located. The subsequent opening of another drug consumption room did not have a significant impact in collected syringes in the area. Some police interventions in 2005-2006 and 2011 had a significant impact in the indicators of the involved districts, while others did not. Harm reduction programs might have a favourable impact on drug injection in public spaces and related syringe presence. Some police interventions appear to have an impact while others do not or just have a modest local and temporary effect.
Assuntos
Tráfico de Drogas , Redução do Dano , Polícia , Abuso de Substâncias por Via Intravenosa , Seringas/estatística & dados numéricos , Humanos , EspanhaRESUMO
Every day, 800 women and 6700 newborns die from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. A well-trained midwife can prevent most of these maternal and newborn deaths. Data science models together with logs generated by users of online learning applications for midwives can help improve their learning competencies. In this work, we evaluate various forecasting methods to determine the future interest of users for the different types of content available in the Safe Delivery App, a digital training tool for skilled birth attendants, broken down by profession and region. This first attempt at health content demand forecasting for midwifery learning shows that DeepAR can accurately anticipate content demand in operational settings, and could therefore be used to offer users personalized content and to provide an adaptive learning journey.
Assuntos
Tocologia , Feminino , Humanos , Recém-Nascido , Gravidez , Tocologia/educação , Previsões , Aplicativos MóveisRESUMO
Lafora disease (LD) is a fatal childhood-onset dementia characterized by the extensive accumulation of glycogen aggregates-the so-called Lafora Bodies (LBs)-in several organs. The accumulation of LBs in the brain underlies the neurological phenotype of the disease. LBs are composed of abnormal glycogen and various associated proteins, including p62, an autophagy adaptor that participates in the aggregation and clearance of misfolded proteins. To study the role of p62 in the formation of LBs and its participation in the pathology of LD, we generated a mouse model of the disease (malinKO) lacking p62. Deletion of p62 prevented LB accumulation in skeletal muscle and cardiac tissue. In the brain, the absence of p62 altered LB morphology and increased susceptibility to epilepsy. These results demonstrate that p62 participates in the formation of LBs and suggest that the sequestration of abnormal glycogen into LBs is a protective mechanism through which it reduces the deleterious consequences of its accumulation in the brain.
Assuntos
Doença de Lafora , Animais , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Glicogênio/metabolismo , Corpos de Inclusão/metabolismo , Doença de Lafora/genética , Camundongos , Camundongos Knockout , Proteína Sequestossoma-1RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Previous analyses of excess mortality in drug users compared with the general population have almost always been based on mortality ratios, reporting much higher figures in women than men. This study tests the hypothesis that being a heroin or cocaine user adds more death risk in women than men in Spain. METHODS: A retrospective cohort of 15,305 heroin users (HUs) and 11,905 cocaine users (CUs) aged 15-49 starting drug treatment in 1997-2007 was recruited in Spain and followed until December 2008 to determine vital status and cause of death. Excess mortality in men and women compared to the general population was assessed with directly age-standardized rate ratios (SRRs) and differences (SRDs). RESULTS: SRR was significantly higher in women than men for all causes (14.7 vs. 9.4), natural causes (8.7 vs. 6.2), overdose (331.6 vs. 163.9) and other external causes (46.9 vs. 11.8) among HUs; and for overdose (170.8 vs. 40.5) and other external causes (21.0 vs. 4.7) among CUs. However, the opposite happened with SRD for all causes (1294 vs. 1845 deaths/100,000 person-years), natural causes (675 vs. 1016 deaths/100,000 person-years) and overdose (331 vs. 619 deaths/100,000 person-years) among HUs, while no significant SRD gender disparities were observed among CUs. CONCLUSION: Compared with the general population, being a heroin user adds greater absolute risk in men than women, but this does not happen with cocaine users. Similar results would likely have been found in most published cohort studies if this indicator had been used; the exclusive use of relative indices of disparity as in previous meta-analysis can be extremely misleading.
Assuntos
Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Cocaína/mortalidade , Dependência de Heroína/mortalidade , Adolescente , Adulto , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Cocaína/reabilitação , Estudos de Coortes , Feminino , Dependência de Heroína/reabilitação , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Mortalidade , Estudos Retrospectivos , Fatores de Risco , Fatores Sexuais , Espanha/epidemiologia , Centros de Tratamento de Abuso de Substâncias , Adulto JovemRESUMO
BACKGROUND: To estimate the incidence of hazardous drinking in middle-aged people during an economic recession and ascertain whether individual job loss and contextual changes in unemployment influence the incidence rate in that period. METHODS: Longitudinal study based on two waves of the SHARE project (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe). Individuals aged 50-64 years from 11 European countries, who were not hazardous drinkers at baseline (n = 7,615), were selected for this study. We estimated the cumulative incidence of hazardous drinking (≥40g and ≥20g of pure alcohol on average in men and women, respectively) between 2006 and 2012. Furthermore, in the statistical analysis, multilevel Poisson regression models with robust variance were fitted and obtained Risk Ratios (RR) and their 95% Confidence Intervals (95%CI). RESULTS: Over a 6-year period, 505 subjects became hazardous drinkers, with cumulative incidence of 6.6 per 100 persons between 2006 and 2012 (95%CI:6.1-7.2). Age [RR = 1.02 (95%CI:1.00-1.04)] and becoming unemployed [RR = 1.55 (95%CI:1.08-2.23)] were independently associated with higher risk of becoming a hazardous drinker. Conversely, having poorer self-perceived health was associated with lower risk of becoming a hazardous drinker [RR = 0.75 (95%CI:0.60-0.95)]. At country-level, an increase in the unemployment rate during the study period [RR = 1.32 (95%CI:1.17-1.50)] and greater increases in the household disposable income [RR = 0.97 (95%CI:0.95-0.99)] were associated with risk of becoming a hazardous drinker. CONCLUSIONS: Job loss among middle-aged individuals during the economic recession was positively associated with becoming a hazardous drinker. Changes in country-level variables were also related to this drinking pattern.
Assuntos
Consumo de Bebidas Alcoólicas/epidemiologia , Recessão Econômica , Desemprego , Europa (Continente)/epidemiologia , Feminino , Humanos , Incidência , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Fatores de RiscoRESUMO
PURPOSE: The effects of adolescent- and parental-birthplace and country-of-origin contextual factors on substance use among adolescents with recent immigrant background (ARIBs) are poorly understood. We aimed to assess these effects and identify the main mediating factors in Spain. METHODS: Participants were 12,432 ARIBs (≥1 foreign-born parent) and 75,511 autochthonous adolescents from pooled 2006-2010 school surveys. Outcomes were prevalence of use of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, stimulants and sedative-hypnotics. ARIBs were classified by adolescent birthplace (Spain/abroad), whether they had mixed-parents (one Spanish-born and one foreign-born), and country-of-origin characteristics. Adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) and percent change expressing disparities in risk were estimated using Poisson regression with robust variance. RESULTS: Compared to autochthonous adolescents, foreign-born ARIBs without mixed-parents showed significant aPRs <1 for all substances, which generally approached 1 in Spanish-born ARIBs with mixed-parents. The main factors mediating ARIBs' lower risk were less frequent socialization in leisure environments and less association with peers who use such substances. ARIBs' lower risk depended more on country-of-origin characteristics and not having mixed-parents than being foreign-born. Tobacco, cannabis and stimulant use in ARIBs increased with increasing population use of these substances in the country-of-origin. ARIBs from the non-Muslim-regions had a lower risk of using alcohol and higher risk of using sedative-hypnotics than those from the Muslim-region. CONCLUSIONS: Among ARIBs in Spain, parental transmission of norms and values could influence substance use as much as or more than exposure to the Spanish context. Future research should better assess effects of adolescent- and parental-birthplace and country-of-origin contextual factors on substance use.
Assuntos
Comportamento do Adolescente , Emigração e Imigração/estatística & dados numéricos , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/etnologia , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/epidemiologia , Adolescente , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Prevalência , Fatores de Risco , Espanha/epidemiologiaRESUMO
Alcohol affects the brain and most organs and systems, and its use is related to a large number of health problems. These include mental, neurological, digestive, cardiovascular, endocrine, metabolic, perinatal, cancerous, and infectious diseases, as well as intentional and non-intentional injuries. Physiopathological mechanisms still remain unraveled, though direct toxicity of ethanol and its metabolites, nutritional deficit and intestinal microbial endotoxin absorption have been suggested, all of which would be further modulated by use patterns and genetic and environmental factors. Individually it is difficult to precisely predict who will or will not suffer health consequences. At population level several disorders show a linear or exponential dose-response relationship, as is the case with various cancer types, hepatopathies, injuries, and probably risky behaviors such as unsafe sex. Other health problems such as general mortality in people above 45 years of age, ischemic disease or diabetes mellitus show a J-shaped relationship with alcohol use. The overall effect of alcohol on the global burden of disease is highly detrimental, despite the possible beneficial effect on cardiovascular disease. Large differences are found by country, age, gender, socioeconomic and other factors. Disease burden is mostly related with alcohol's capacity to produce dependence and with acute intoxication. Often alcohol also produces negative consequences for other people (violence, unattended family or work duties, etc) which are generally not taken into account when evaluating burden of disease. The aim of this study was to describe the main alcohol-related social and health harms, as well as their generating mechanisms, using secondary data sources.
Assuntos
Consumo de Bebidas Alcoólicas/efeitos adversos , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Álcool/complicações , Doença Crônica , Saúde Global , Problemas Sociais , Consumo de Bebidas Alcoólicas/mortalidade , Consumo de Bebidas Alcoólicas/fisiopatologia , Consumo de Bebidas Alcoólicas/psicologia , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Álcool/mortalidade , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Álcool/fisiopatologia , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Álcool/psicologia , Efeitos Psicossociais da Doença , Comportamento Perigoso , HumanosRESUMO
AIMS: To analyse the association between alcohol advertising restrictions and the prevalence of hazardous drinking among people aged 50-64 years in 16 European countries, taking into account both individual and contextual-level factors (alcohol taxation, availability, etc.). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study based on SHARE project surveys. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 27 773 subjects, aged 50-64 years, from 16 European countries who participated in wave 4 of the SHARE (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe) project. MEASUREMENTS: We estimated the prevalence of hazardous drinking (through adaptation of the SHARE questions to the scheme used by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test Consumption (AUDIT-C) for each country. To determine whether the degree of advertising restrictions was associated with prevalence of hazardous drinking, we fitted robust variance multi-level Poisson models, adjusting for various individual and contextual variables. Prevalence ratios (PR) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were obtained. FINDINGS: The observed prevalence of hazardous drinking was 24.1%, varying by sex and country. Countries with greater advertising restrictions had lower prevalence of hazardous drinking: 30.6% (95% CI = 29.3-31.8) in countries with no restrictions, 20.3% (95% CI = 19.3-21.2) in countries with some restrictions and 14.4% (95% CI = 11.9-16.8) in those with greatest restrictions. The PR found (with respect to countries with greatest restrictions) were 1.36 (95% CI = 0.90-2.06) for countries with some restrictions and 1.95 (95% CI = 1.31-2.91) for those with no advertising restrictions. CONCLUSIONS: The extent of advertising restrictions in European countries is associated inversely with prevalence of hazardous drinking in people aged 50-64 years.
Assuntos
Publicidade/legislação & jurisprudência , Consumo de Bebidas Alcoólicas/epidemiologia , Assunção de Riscos , Consumo de Bebidas Alcoólicas/legislação & jurisprudência , Estudos Transversais , Europa (Continente)/epidemiologia , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Prevalência , Fatores de RiscoRESUMO
We assessed mortality risk factors and excess mortality compared to the general population in two Spanish sub-cohorts of 8,825 cocaine and heroin users (CHUs) and 11,905 only cocaine users (OCUs) aged 15-49 admitted to drug treatment. Heroin use (among all cocaine users), no-regular employment and drug injection (among CHUs and OCUs), daily cocaine use and previous drug treatment (among CUs), and death before 2005 and >10 years of heroin use (among CHUs) were clearly associated with higher mortality in Cox regression. Excess mortality was assessed by the directly standardized mortality rate ratio, which was higher in CHUs (14.3; 95% CI: 12.6-16.2) than CUs (5.1; 95% CI: 4.3-6.0) and in women than men, especially among OCUs (8.6; 95% CI: 7.5-10.0 vs. 3.5; 95% CI: 3.3-3.8); it decreased with age among CHUs, but did not decrease overall during 1997-2008. OCUs excess mortality was considerable and showed no signs of decline, suggesting the need for improved treatment and prevention interventions.
Assuntos
Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Cocaína/mortalidade , Dependência de Heroína/mortalidade , Centros de Tratamento de Abuso de Substâncias , Adolescente , Adulto , Fatores Etários , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Cocaína/reabilitação , Emprego/estatística & dados numéricos , Feminino , Seguimentos , Dependência de Heroína/epidemiologia , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Modelos de Riscos Proporcionais , Análise de Regressão , Fatores de Risco , Fatores Sexuais , Espanha/epidemiologia , Adulto JovemRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Published studies indicate that primary cocaine users (PCUs) have a mortality rate 4-8 times higher than their age-sex peers in the general population. Most PCUs are primary intranasal cocaine users, never-injectors and never-opioid users (PICUNINOs) and are usually underrepresented in cohort mortality studies. The aim is to estimate excess mortality in all PCUs and in the subgroups of never-opioid users and PICUNINOs in Spain. METHODS: 714 PCUs aged 18-30 were street-recruited in 2004-2006 in Spain and followed until 2010 to ascertain vital status. Drug use was self-reported at baseline and 1-2years later. Mortality was compared with that of the general population using standardized mortality ratios (SMRs). RESULTS: SMRs were 4.7 (95% CI: 2.4-9.0), 2.5 (95%CI: 0.8-7.8) and 3.1 (95% CI: 1.0-9.6), respectively, among all participants, never-opioid users and PICUNINOS when using only baseline data on drug use, and 1.2 (95% CI: 0.2-8.5) and 1.4 (95% CI: 0.2-9.9) among the latter two subgroups, when using baseline plus follow-up data. CONCLUSION: Short-term mortality in young Spanish PCUs is 5 times higher than in the general population. This excess mortality may largely be explained by a history of opioid use or the risk of starting such use.
Assuntos
Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Cocaína/mortalidade , Adolescente , Adulto , Causas de Morte , Estudos de Coortes , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Opioides/mortalidade , Assunção de Riscos , Espanha/epidemiologia , Adulto JovemRESUMO
BACKGROUND: The Drugs Advice Service (SOD in its Catalan acronym) in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) provides an Information and Guidance Program (IGP) for teenagers, and an Alternative Measures Program (AMP) targeting minors fined for consumption / possession of illegal drugs in public spaces. This study describes these programs and compares the profiles of their users. METHODS: Cross-sectional descriptive study of 1,010 people discharged from the two SOD programs in 2008-10 after screening for psychiatric disorders and addiction and an extended brief intervention for subjects without pathology. The profiles of the users were compared, and age-specific rates of AMP use were calculated. RESULTS: Cannabis causes 89.9% of entries in the SOD. The proportion of IGP users with high risk criteria for cannabis is 13.3% and with risk for alcohol 11.3%, while in AMP it is 8.9%, and 4%. Criteria for substance dependence or abuse or another psychiatric disorder caused referral of 6% of AMP users and 38% of IGP users. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents in the AMP had a pattern of cannabis use (and often of alcohol) of low or moderate risk, compared to IGP. Beyond the value of the indicated prevention intervention, the programmes facilitate the early detection and referral of problematic substance use and mental disorders in early stages.
Assuntos
Serviços de Saúde do Adolescente/estatística & dados numéricos , Serviços Preventivos de Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/prevenção & controle , Adolescente , Serviços de Saúde do Adolescente/organização & administração , Estudos Transversais , Feminino , Pesquisas sobre Atenção à Saúde , Humanos , Masculino , Serviços Preventivos de Saúde/organização & administração , Desenvolvimento de Programas , Avaliação de Programas e Projetos de Saúde , Espanha , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/diagnósticoRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: The use of the Spanish National Death Index (S-NDI) is increasing as it is free and easily accessible. Prompted by unexpected findings when linking two cohorts of patients with the S-NDI, this study was performed to evaluate the quality of mortality data from this source. METHODS: Individual records of two cohorts of persons admitted to drug abuse treatment in Barcelona (n=19,974) and Madrid (n=17,557) were linked with the S-NDI and then with the National Statistics Institute (NSI) to assign vital status. The sensitivity and specificity of the S-NDI in relation to the NSI and estimates of mortality with both systems were obtained. Underestimation of mortality by the S-NDI for the same period in the whole of Spain was also calculated. RESULTS: For Madrid, from 1997-2008, independent searches in the S-NDI underestimated mortality by 18.9% compared with the NSI. A subsequent individualized search limited to deaths detected by the NSI but not by the S-NDI reduced underestimation to 13.9%. For Barcelona, underestimation with a combined search (independent plus limited) was 3.3%. From 2001-2002, underestimation with combined searches reached 32.3% in Madrid and 7.3% in Barcelona. Underestimation was also seen in the general Spanish population (1.8% in 1997-2008 and 9.3% in 2001-2002). From 1997-2008, the specificity of independent searches in the S-NDI was 100%, but its sensitivity in Madrid was only 81%. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of the S-NDI is good enough for many uses in the health sector, but this index underestimates mortality with substantial spatiotemporal variations. The quality of the S-NDI could be increased by improving its search algorithms, enabling on-line tabulations of the main results, and introducing quality controls and routine evaluations.
Assuntos
Atestado de Óbito , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/mortalidade , Humanos , Controle de Qualidade , EspanhaRESUMO
OBJECTIVES: To estimate excess mortality in patients with an alcohol use disorder and to calculate the population-based impact attributable to this disorder, with emphasis on differences according to gender and age. METHODS: We carried out a longitudinal study of a dynamic retrospective cohort in which 7,109 patients (76.5% men) aged 18-64 years who started medical day treatment between 1997 and 2006 were recruited. Deaths were monitored until the end of 2006 using a national mortality register. Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) by age and gender and population attributable risks (PAR) by age group were estimated. RESULTS: There were 557 deaths (83% were men). The total excess mortality was 8 times higher than in the general population aged 18-64 years, especially in the group aged 25-34 years old (SMR: 11.2 [95% CI: 7.8-16.0] in men and 24 [IC95%: 11.5-50.4] in women). Significant differences by gender were found in all the variables analyzed. In Barcelona, alcohol use disorder was estimated to cause 73 deaths per year, representing 3.3% of the total annual deaths in this city in persons aged 18-64 years. This percentage was substantially higher in the groups aged 25-34 years (PAR: 19.4% [95% CI: 19.2-19.6]) and 18-24 years (PAR: 11.1% [95% CI: 10.7-11.4]). CONCLUSIONS: Women and young men with an alcohol use disorder have a higher risk of early mortality. Early detection of problematic alcohol consumption and selective and well-indicated prevention programs should be improved.