Drug Abuse Warning Network, 2011: National Estimates of Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits.

摘要

This publication presents national estimates of drug-related visits to hospital emergency departments (EDs) for the calendar year 2011, based on data from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). Also presented are comparisons of 2011 estimates with those for 2004, 2009, and 2010. DAWN is a public health surveillance system that monitors drug-related ED visits for the Nation and for selected metropolitan areas. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is the agency responsible for DAWN. SAMHSA is required to collect data on drug-related ED visits under Section 505 of the Public Health Service Act. DAWN relies on a nationally representative sample of general, non-Federal hospitals operating 24-hour EDs, with oversampling of hospitals in selected metropolitan areas. In each participating hospital, ED medical records are reviewed retrospectively to find the ED visits that involved recent drug use. All types of drugsillegal drugs, prescription drugs, over-the-counter pharmaceuticals (e.g., dietary supplements, cough medicine), and substances inhaled for their psychoactive effectsare included. Alcohol is considered an illicit drug when consumed by patients aged 20 or younger. For patients aged 21 or older, though, alcohol is reported only when it is used in conjunction with other drugs. Marked findings of this report are (a) a 29 percent increase in the number of drug-related ED visits involving illicit drugs in the short term between 2009 and 2011; (b) simultaneous, short-term increases in the involvement of both illicit and licit stimulant-like drugs; and (c) some indications that the pace of increases in pharmaceutical involvement is slowing down.