Overdose in young people using heroin: associations with mental health, prescription drug use and personal circumstances (original) (raw)
Related papers
Heroin overdose: Prevalence, correlates, consequences and interventions
2001
Over the past decade fatal opioid overdose has emerged as a major public health issue in Australia. This report has been prepared in order to provide a comprehensive overview both of the epidemiology and circumstances of heroin overdose, and of interventions that may potentially reduce mortality from overdose.
1998
Deaths attributed to overdose remain the largest contributor to excess mortality associated with heroin use1, 2. Excess mortality rates ti mortality rates as high as 22 have been reported among this population4. In Australia, the incidence of fatal heroin overdose has increased from 10.7 per million in 1979 to 67.0 per million in 1995, representing a rise from 70 deaths in 1979 to 550 in 19955. A sharp increase in opioid-related mortality has also been reported elsewhere6, 7.
The Medical journal of Australia, 2004
To identify prescription drug-seeking behaviour patterns among young people who subsequently died of heroin-related overdose. Linkage of Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and Coroner's Court records from Victoria. Two hundred and two 15-24-year-olds who died of heroin-related overdose between 6 January 1994 and 6 October 1999. 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. 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...
From oxycodone to heroin: two cases of transitioning opioid use in young Australians
Drug and alcohol review, 2014
The non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids is associated with a range of negative health consequences, including the development of dependence, emergency room presentations and overdose deaths. Drawing on life history data from a broader qualitative study of the non-medical use of painkillers, this brief report presents two cases of transitions from recreational or non-medical pharmaceutical opioid use to intravenous heroin use by young adults in Australia. Although our study was not designed to assess whether recreational oxycodone use is causally linked to transitions to intravenous use, polyopioid use places individuals at high risk for progression to heroin and injecting. Our first case, Jake, used a range of analgesics before he transitioned to intravenous use, and the first drug he injected was methadone. Our second case, Emma, engaged in a broad spectrum of polydrug use, involving a range of opioid preparations, as well as benzodiazepines, cannabis and alcohol. Both cases ...