Copyright © 2005 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS |
Long-term Outcome of Chronic Drug Use
The Amsterdam Cohort Study among Drug Users
1 Infectious Diseases Cluster, Department of HIV and STD Research, Municipal Health Service Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
2 Department of Epidemiology and Information, Municipal Health Service Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
In the present study, mortality rates and prevalence of abstinence from illicit drugs among persons with a history of addiction to heroin, cocaine, and/or amphetamines were estimated along the drug-using career time scale. Follow-up data on drug use and vital status were analyzed for participants in the Amsterdam Cohort Study among Drug Users (n = 899; 1985–2002). Participants in the study were primarily recruited at low-threshold methadone outposts. It was estimated that at least 27% of drug users had died within 20 years after starting regular drug use; for half, death had been due to causes unrelated to human immunodeficiency virus. A favorable trend towards abstinence with increasing time since initiation of regular use was observed. However, among those alive, the estimated prevalence of abstinence for at least 4 months from the above drugs and methadone was only 27% at 20 years since initiation. A higher age at initiation, a calendar year of initiation before 1980, and a Western European ethnic origin were associated with higher prevalence of abstinence. These results indicate that the concept of "maturing out" to a drug-free state does not apply to the majority of drug users. Further studies on determinants of individual transitions in drug use are important in order to establish evidence-based intervention strategies.
behavior; fatal outcome; harm reduction; longitudinal studies; substance-related disorders
Abbreviations: ACS, Amsterdam Cohort Study; AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; GEE, generalized estimating equations; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus.
Correspondence to Dr. Fabian Termorshuizen, Municipal Health Service Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 100, 1018 WT Amsterdam, the Netherlands (e-mail: ftermorshuizen{at}gggd.amsterdam.nl or FTermorshuizen{at}cs.com).
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  Y.-I. Hser, D. Huang, C.-P. Chou, and M. D. Anglin Trajectories of Heroin Addiction: Growth Mixture Modeling Results Based on a 33-Year Follow-Up Study Eval Rev, December 1, 2007; 31(6): 548 - 563. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L Degenhardt, W Hall, and M Warner-Smith Using cohort studies to estimate mortality among injecting drug users that is not attributable to AIDS Sex. Transm. Inf., June 1, 2006; 82(suppl_3): iii56 - iii63. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|