TY - JOUR
T1 - Heroin and cocaine dependence and the risk of accidental non-fatal drug overdose
AU - Galea, Sandro
AU - Nandi, Ari
AU - Coffin, Phillip O.
AU - Tracy, Melissa
AU - Piper, Tinka Markham
AU - Ompad, Danielle
AU - Vlahov, David
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded by grants DA-06534, DA-12801-S1, and DA-017642 from the National Institutes of Health.
PY - 2006/8/31
Y1 - 2006/8/31
N2 - The relation between illicit drug dependence and the likelihood of drug overdose is unclear. We recruited 1,066 habitual drug users for this analysis through street-based outreach in New York City. In this sample, 99.3% of respondents used heroin in the past year and 87.1% of respondents used cocaine; 819 (77.5%) heroin users and 735 (79.2%) cocaine users were severely dependent on either drug respectively. In multivariable models, among heroin users, persons who were severely heroin dependent were less likely (OR = 0.6; 95% CI = 0.4-0.9) to have overdosed on any drug in the past year; among cocaine users, those who were severely cocaine dependent were more likely (OR = 1.6; 95% CI = 1.0-2.6) to have overdosed in the past year. The relation between illicit drug dependence and risk of overdose may vary for different patterns of drug dependence. These observations suggest that overdose prevention interventions, perhaps even those specifically targeting opiate overdose, may be more efficiently directed at individuals exhibiting cocaine dependence.
AB - The relation between illicit drug dependence and the likelihood of drug overdose is unclear. We recruited 1,066 habitual drug users for this analysis through street-based outreach in New York City. In this sample, 99.3% of respondents used heroin in the past year and 87.1% of respondents used cocaine; 819 (77.5%) heroin users and 735 (79.2%) cocaine users were severely dependent on either drug respectively. In multivariable models, among heroin users, persons who were severely heroin dependent were less likely (OR = 0.6; 95% CI = 0.4-0.9) to have overdosed on any drug in the past year; among cocaine users, those who were severely cocaine dependent were more likely (OR = 1.6; 95% CI = 1.0-2.6) to have overdosed in the past year. The relation between illicit drug dependence and risk of overdose may vary for different patterns of drug dependence. These observations suggest that overdose prevention interventions, perhaps even those specifically targeting opiate overdose, may be more efficiently directed at individuals exhibiting cocaine dependence.
KW - Cocaine
KW - Drug dependence
KW - Heroin
KW - Overdose
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U2 - 10.1300/J069v25n03_10
DO - 10.1300/J069v25n03_10
M3 - Article
C2 - 16956872
AN - SCOPUS:33748440766
SN - 1055-0887
VL - 25
SP - 79
EP - 87
JO - Journal of Addictive Diseases
JF - Journal of Addictive Diseases
IS - 3
ER -