NCJ Number
204888
Date Published
April 2004
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This DAWN (Drug Abuse Warning Network) report presents data on the number and types of drug-related visits to 14 hospitals in the Phoenix metropolitan area in 2002.
Abstract
Currently hospitals in the Phoenix area and 20 other metropolitan areas participate in the DAWN network, as they follow standard procedures for keeping records on cases that have involved medical treatment for drug abuse. Of the 880,000 visits to the emergency departments (ED's) of the 14 Phoenix DAWN hospitals in 2002, approximately 1 percent (10,292) were related to drug abuse. The most common drugs involved in these ED visits were alcohol in combination with others drugs (2,239); narcotic analgesics (1,838); cocaine (1,727); benzodiazepines (1,548); and amphetamines (1,436). Between 1995 and 2002, ED mentions of pain relievers in Phoenix increased 156 percent, from 24 to 62 mentions per 100,000 population. From 1995 to 1999, the rate of cocaine-related ED visits in Phoenix increased from 59 to 91 visits per 100,000, but by 2002 the rate had returned to 1995 levels. Almost two-thirds of cocaine-related ED visits in Phoenix in 2002 also involved other drugs. The rate of amphetamine-related ED visits in Phoenix increased 56 percent between 2001 and 2002, from 31 to 49 visits per 100,000 population. In 2002, the rate of amphetamine-related ED visits in Phoenix was more than six times the national rate. Four figures compare Phoenix's 2002 rates of ED visits for pain relievers, cocaine, benzodiazepines, and amphetamine with those of the other 20 DAWN sites.