TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2003//
TI  - Descriptive analysis of drug-related deaths over a 5-year period
JO  - Psychiatrische Praxis
A1  - Davids, Eugen
A1  - Reinhold, Uwe
A1  - Rösinger, Clemens
A1  - Gastpar, Markus
SP  - 266
EP  - 271
VL  - 30
IS  - 5
N2  - OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to examine opiate-related deaths in the German town Essen (inhabitants about 600,000) from 1990-1994. Sociodemographic data, psychiatric comorbidity and purity of the used opioids were of focussed interest. METHODS: 189 opiate-related deaths were analysed during the 5-year period. Patient files and police-related documents were used for the retrospective analysis. Purity of opioids was examined in a criminalistic laboratory and correlated with the number of deaths per time interval. RESULTS: The average age to start drug abuse in this cohort of 189 people was about 20, the average time of drug career was about 8.5 years, and the highest number of drug-related deaths was to be found at the age of 29-30. Purity of opioids was correlated statistically significantly (p < 0.05) with the number of deaths per period of time. CONCLUSIONS: After an average start of drug abuse at the age of 20 and a drug career of about a decade the risk of drug-related death seems to be relatively high at the age of about 30 years. Opiate purity seems to be relevant for drug-related death.<p /> <p>Language: de</p>
LA  - de
SN  - 0303-4259
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-2003-40775
ID  - ref1
ER  -