Using Booking Data to Model Drug User Arrest Rates: A Preliminary to Estimating the Prevalence of Chronic Drug Use

Background: Drug overdoses (fatal and non-fatal) are among the leading causes of death in population with substance use disorders. The aim of the current study was to identify risk factors for fatal and non-fatal drug overdose for predominantly opioid-dependent treatment–seeking population.Methods: Data were collected from 640 adult patients using a self-reported 25-item Overdose Risk (OdRi) questionnaire pertaining to drug use and identified related domains. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was primarily used to improve the interpretability of this questionnaire. Two sets of EFA were conducted; in the first set of analysis, all items were included, while in the second set, items related to the experience of overdose were removed. Logistic regression was used for the assessment of latent factors’ association with both fatal and non-fatal overdoses.Results: EFA suggested a three-factor solution accounting for 75 and 97% of the variance for items treated in the first and second sets of analysis, respectively. Factor 1 was common for both sets of EFA analysis, containing six items (Cronbach’s α = 0.70) focusing around “illicit drug use and lack of treatment.” In the first set of analysis, Factors 2 (Cronbach’s α = 0.60) and 3 (Cronbach’s α = 0.34) were focusing around “mental health and emotional trauma” and “chronic drug use and frequent overdose” domains, respectively. The increase of Factor 2 was found to be a risk factor for fatal drug overdose (adjusted coefficient = 1.94, p = 0.038). In the second set of analysis, Factors 2 (Cronbach’s α = 0.65) and 3 (Cronbach’s α = 0.59) as well as Factor 1 were found to be risk factors for non-fatal drug overdose ever occurring. Only Factors 1 and 3 were positively associated with non-fatal overdose (one in a past year).Conclusion: The OdRi tool developed here could be helpful for clinical studies for the overdose risk assessment. However, integrating validated tools for mental health can probably help refining the accuracy of latent variables and the questionnaire’s consistency. Mental health and life stress appear as important predictors of both fatal and non-fatal overdoses.

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Misclassification of exposure is high when interview data on drug use are used as a proxy measure of chronic drug use during follow-up

Journal of Clinical Epidemiology ◽

10.1016/j.jclinepi.2003.12.017 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 57 (9) ◽

pp. 973-977 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Annette B. Beiderbeck ◽

Miriam C.J.M. Sturkenboom ◽

Jan W.W. Coebergh ◽

Hubert G.M. Leufkens ◽

Bruno H.Ch. Stricker

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Interview Data ◽

Chronic Drug Use ◽

Proxy Measure

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Neuropsychological Consequences of Chronic Drug Use: Relevance to Treatment Approaches

Frontiers in Psychiatry ◽

10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00189 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Jean Lud Cadet ◽

Veronica Bisagno

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Treatment Approaches ◽

Chronic Drug Use

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A New Perspective on Intervention in Heavy, Chronic Drug Use

International Journal of the Addictions ◽

10.3109/10826088509047245 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 20 (10) ◽

pp. 1545-1565 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

James V. Spotts ◽

Franklin C. Shontz

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Chronic Drug Use ◽

New Perspective

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Crack Abusers and Noncrack Abusers: Profiles of Drug Use, Drug Sales and Nondrug Criminality

Journal of Drug Issues ◽

10.1177/002204269402400107 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 117-141 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Bruce D. Johnson ◽

Mangai Natarajan ◽

Eloise Dunlap ◽

Elsayed Elmoghazy

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Drug User ◽

Drug Abusers ◽

Cash Income ◽

Use Patterns ◽

Drug Sales ◽

Crack Use ◽

Frequency Of Use ◽

User Groups ◽

The Cost

Based on more than one thousand interviews with drug abusers in 1988 and 1989, the drug use patterns, selling behavior, and other crimes (robbery, burglary theft, etc.) of crack abusers are compared with those of heroin injectors, cocaine snorters, marijuana-only users, and nondrug users. Several striking differences in the frequency of crack use and dealing emerge among the various drug user types. Crack abusers were found to be using drugs at high rates and were receiving high incomes from drug sales and nondrug criminality. Among crack abusers, crack use greatly exceeded the cost and frequency of use of other specific drugs, which they were also consuming. For all user subgroups, crack selling was the most frequent crime and generated the largest cash income. Important patterns of polydrug use were found among most drug user groups. These findings have important implications for policies directed toward drug abusers.

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Researching Hard-to Reach Populations: Privileged Access Interviewers and Drug Using Parents

Sociological Research Online ◽

10.1177/136078040501000205 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 55-62 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nicola Jane Taylor ◽

Jackie Kearney

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Drug User ◽

Drug Users ◽

Service Providers ◽

Privileged Access ◽

Veil Of Ignorance ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Hard To Reach Populations ◽

The Media

Accessing drug using populations is notoriously fraught with difficulties for researchers (Gurdin & Patterson, 1987; Griffiths, Gosspo & Strang, 1993; Renzetti & Lee, 1993; Spreen & Zwaagstra, 1994; Goode, 2000; Elliott et al., 2002). These difficulties are the result of a number of reasons. The main one being that drug use is often illicit and/or illegal which often leads to the stigmatization of drug users within the media and elsewhere and this may ultimately lead to their lives being ‘concealed by a veil of ignorance’ (Elliott et al., 2002: 172). When one adds to this the fact that the population in question may have even more reason to remain hidden, for example, that they are drug using parents who may wish to conceal their identity as either parent or as drug user, accessing them may be even more complicated for researchers, service providers and policy makers alike.

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Characteristics of Drug Use among Mexican-American Students

Journal of Drug Education ◽

10.2190/exy8-16ya-58bk-1ee9 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 235-241 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Robert Guinn

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Socioeconomic Status ◽

High School Students ◽

Drug Use ◽

Drug User ◽

Mexican American ◽

Multiple Choice ◽

School Students ◽

Mexican American Students ◽

American Students

The author conducted a study of drug use among 254 Mexican-American high school students. Drug use was investigated in relationship to socioeconomic status, attitudes toward drugs, school related variables, and demographic factors. An eighty-eight item survey instrument with a multiple choice format was used to gather the data. The results indicate that the Mexican-American drug user differed significantly from the group normal from which he was drawn with regard to the aspects investigated.

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Risk Factors for Drug Use in Urban Adolescents: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study

Journal of Drug Issues ◽

10.1177/002204269302300306 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 443-462 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Albert D. Farrell

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Drug Use ◽

Urban Adolescents ◽

School Students ◽

Path Models ◽

Factor Index ◽

Model Drug ◽

The Relationship ◽

Best Fit ◽

Hard Liquor

A three-wave longitudinal panel design was used to examine the relationship between risk factors and drug use in a sample of 1,375 middle school students in an urban school system. The total number of risk factors was significantly related to subsequent initiation of use for beer, wine, hard liquor, cigarettes, and marijuana. Comparison of several path models relating risk factors to the frequency of drug use across three time points between the seventh and eighth grades indicated that a reciprocal model provided the best fit to the data. Within this model, drug use was predicted by previous levels of drug use and risk factors, and the risk factor index was predicted by previous levels of risk factors and drug use. These findings provide further support for the utility of a risk factors approach to identifying variables associated with drug use among adolescents.

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