Fatal and Non-Fatal Heroin-Related Overdoses: Circumstances and Patterns
- 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.
Verfasserangaben: | Sven Schneider, Christian Richter, Rainer Niethammer, Larissa Beisel |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2021.1963986 |
Titel des übergeordneten Werkes (Englisch): | Substance Use & Misuse |
Dokumentart: | Beitrag in einer (wissenschaftlichen) Zeitschrift |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Datum der Veröffentlichung (online): | 30.10.2023 |
Jahr der Erstveröffentlichung: | 2021 |
Betreiber des Publikationsservers: | FH Münster - University of Applied Sciences |
Datum der Freischaltung: | 31.10.2023 |
Band / Jahrgang: | 13 |
Ausgabe / Heft: | 56 |
Fachbereiche: | Sozialwesen (SW) |
Publikationsliste: | Richter, Christian |
Lizenz (Deutsch): | Bibliographische Daten |