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. 2010 Feb 1;107(1):51-5.
doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2009.09.005. Epub 2009 Oct 13.

Non-fatal overdose in the 12 months following treatment for substance use disorders

Peter C Britton  1 , James D Wines Jr, Kenneth R Conner
Affiliations

Non-fatal overdose in the 12 months following treatment for substance use disorders

Peter C Britton et al. Drug Alcohol Depend. .

Abstract

Background: Overdose (OD) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity for individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs), and there are limited prospective data on OD during the months following treatment for SUDs.

Methods: Variables associated with an OD in the 12 months after leaving an initial treatment episode were examined in an analysis of the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcomes Study (DATOS), a longitudinal naturalistic multisite study. Participants included 2966 patients with one or more SUDs. Non-fatal OD was ascertained by a positive response to "In the past 12 months, have you overdosed on drugs?" Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify variables associated with OD.

Results: By 12 months, 93 (3.1%) participants reported one or more ODs. Variables associated with OD were lifetime history of OD, injection drug use (IDU), male sex, greater pain, and history of sexual abuse.

Conclusions: OD-risk appears to be increased by IDU, lifetime OD, sexual abuse history, and pain. The latter finding is novel for a prospective report and requires further study.

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