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Artefact or reality? Increases in persons notified to the Regional Drug Misuse Database in the South West of England, 1996-2001

Weir, I; Myles, Judy; Wilkinson, Stephen; Orme, Judy; Gray, Selena; Soteriou, Tony

Authors

I Weir

Judy Myles

Stephen Wilkinson

Judy Orme Judy.Orme@uwe.ac.uk
Professor/Ins Director ISHE

Tony Soteriou



Abstract

The incidence of new persons and repeat attenders presenting for treatment for problem drug misuse in the South West of England more than doubled from 1996-1997 to 2000-2001. During this time there was an increase in the number and severity of chronic cases, both in terms of the prevalence of heroin and crack-cocaine use and in the frequency of injecting and sharing injecting equipment. Growth in the availability of treatment, changes in notification practice and sub-regional variation make it difficult to be confident about real rates of increase, or age, gender and substance misuse changes, but the size of these changes mean they are unlikely to be purely artefactal.

Citation

Weir, I., Myles, J., Wilkinson, S., Orme, J., Gray, S., & Soteriou, T. (2004). Artefact or reality? Increases in persons notified to the Regional Drug Misuse Database in the South West of England, 1996-2001. Journal of Public Health, 26(1), 3-5. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdh106

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 2004
Journal Journal of Public Health
Print ISSN 1741-3842
Publisher Oxford University Press (OUP)
Peer Reviewed Not Peer Reviewed
Volume 26
Issue 1
Pages 3-5
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdh106
Keywords drug misuse, treatment, incidence
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1061985
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdh106