@article{SchneiderRichterNiethammeretal.2021,
  author    = {Schneider, Sven and Richter, Christian and Niethammer, Rainer and Beisel, Larissa},
  title     = {Fatal and Non-Fatal Heroin-Related Overdoses: Circumstances and Patterns},
  series = {Substance Use \& Misuse},
  volume    = {13},
  journal   = {Substance Use \& Misuse},
  number    = {56},
  doi       = {10.1080/10826084.2021.1963986},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Introduction: Heroin overdose is a leading cause of mortality among drug users. This paper aims to identify individual and contextual factors associated with lethal and non-lethal heroin-related overdoses on the basis of case reports and semi-structured proxy interviews. Typical patterns within these cases are determined by means of cluster analysis. Methods: Within the CaRe (Case Reports of heroin-related overdoses) study, case reports (100 proxy reports of overdose events from 36 different facilities) were gathered and evaluated as part of a nationwide survey of experts conducted in Germany in 2019. Following initial descriptive analyses a two-step cluster analysis with the four binary variables of gender, age, time and place was conducted to identify patterns within the reported cases. Results: The case reports grouped into five clusters: 1) Younger male drug users, found in a public space during the daytime; 2) Female drug users; 3) Older male drug users, found in a public space during the daytime; 4) Drug users found at home at night; 5) Drug users found outside at night. Overdoses by female drug users and those which occurred at home and/or at night were significantly more likely to have a fatal outcome. Conclusion: Future prevention and intervention measures should aim to consider the context, i.e.},
  language  = {en}
}