Causes of premature mortality in Swedish drug abusers: A prospective longitudinal study 1970–2006

Mortality and cause of death in a cohort of people who had ever injected drugs in Glasgow: 1982–2012

“…Despite these and the utilisation of in-patient treatment services at cohort entry, significantly elevated mortality rates were observed up to three decades later. The recruitment method may limit the generalizability of our findings; however, mortality rates and trends we observed were comparable to similar cohort studies, of which there are few (Kielland et al, 2013;Nyhlen et al, 2011;Oppenheimer et al, 1994). The highest SMR was observed in the youngest age group, over 30 times higher than the Scottish population of the same age.…”

“…Drug treatment services have evolved substantially over the past few decades; from exclusively withdrawal-based treatment to maintenance-based treatment such as opioid substitution therapy. Studies describing mortality among PWID recruited through residential rehabilitation and detoxification services report high mortality rates (Kielland et al, 2013;Naderi-Heiden et al, 2012;Nyhlen et al, 2011), and may be different to populations recruited through methadone maintenance programs. Further, few have examined the impact of treatment access, such as age at treatment, on subsequent drug-related mortality.…”

“…Cohort studies with substantial periods of follow-up are limited, and have focused on mortality among younger age groups, with an emphasis on drug-related deaths and HIV (Copeland et al, 2004;Nyhlen et al, 2011;Oppenheimer et al, 1994). Studies describing agespecific mortality rates are rare (Degenhardt et al, 2011a).…”

Cardiovascular disease among people with drug use disorders

“…It may be that amphetamine users are not as likely to seek health care during acute cardiovascular events, or that cardiovascular events among drug users more often are coded by ICD-10 codes relating to the drug use, i.e., ''overdose with amphetamine'', rather than primary cardiovascular diagnoses. On the other hand, studies have reported that fatal amphetamine overdoses are rare (Degenhardt et al 2005;Nyhlen et al 2011). …”

“…People with drug use disorders (DUD) are at risk of premature death from a range of causes (Degenhardt and Hall 2012;Nordstrom et al 2013;Nyhlén et al 2011), but little is known about the specific burden of CVD in this patient group.…”