HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Joe, G W Articles by Simpson, D D Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Joe, G W Articles by Simpson, D D

Addict death rates during a four-year posttreatment follow-up.

G W Joe, W Lehman and D D Simpson

Mortality rates were examined among 3,324 Black and White daily opioid drug users for a four-year period following treatment in community-based agencies located across the United States. A total of 179 of these addicts died during this follow-up period, yielding a death rate of 15.2 per 1,000 person-years at risk. When adjusted for age, addict death rates were found to be three to 14 times higher than those in the general US population. Life table analysis was also used to examine these rates in relation to client demographic, background, and treatment variables obtained prospectively, both prior to and during treatment. Age, alcohol use, and criminal history were positively associated with higher death rates. With regard to causes of death, age proved to be the only significant predictor; older addicts (over 30) had the highest percentages of deaths due to "natural" causes, while over three-fourths of the deaths among younger addicts were drug related or involved violence.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				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]

				G. L. Davis and J. R. Rodrigue Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C in Active Drug Users N. Engl. J. Med., July 19, 2001; 345(3): 215 - 217. [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. L. Preston, A. Umbricht, and D. H. Epstein Methadone Dose Increase and Abstinence Reinforcement for Treatment of Continued Heroin Use During Methadone Maintenance Arch Gen Psychiatry, April 1, 2000; 57(4): 395 - 404. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]