"Drug Dependence" and Death: Survival Analysis of the Baltimore ECA Sample From 1981 to 1995

• NCJ Number: 181588
• Journal: Substance Use & Misuse Volume: 35 Issue: 3 Dated: February 2000 Pages: 313-327
• Author(s): Yehuda D. Neumark Ph.D.; Michelle L. Van Etten Ph.D.; James C. Anthony
• Editor(s): Stanley Einstein Ph.D.
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 15 pages
• Grant Number(s): DA07292; DA08199; MH47447
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse; National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Recognizing that illicit drug use and dependence are often associated with premature death but available evidence comes mainly from clinical samples, the present study examined drug-related mortality from 1981 to 1995 in a community sample from Baltimore, Maryland.

Abstract

Following probability sampling, 3,481 adult community household residents were recruited for the 1981 National Institute of Mental Health Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) survey. Follow-up occurred between 1993 and 1996. Survival analyses were used to estimate median age at death and relative risk of dying in relation to drug use and dependence, as assessed in 1981 using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS). Cases with DIS drug dependence were more likely to have died and to have a younger median age at death, with and without statistical adjustment for confounding variables. Higher levels of drug involvement were also associated with increased age-adjusted mortality. The authors determined that DIS-elicited drug dependence and sub-threshold drug use helped to account for premature death in the Baltimore ECA sample. 22 references and 5 tables