The impact of amphetamine-type stimulants on emergency services

Abstract

It is clear that the use of metamphetamine-type substances places an increasing burden on acute health services. There is a need for preventive and harm-minimization strategies.

Health service utilisation attributable to methamphetamine use in Australia: Patterns, predictors and national impact

“…The dual impact on emergency departments and psychiatric hospitals is most likely because of a proportion of methamphetamine‐related presentations involving methamphetamine psychosis . These types of presentations can be particularly resource intensive to manage because of patient agitation, with some patients requiring sedation and/or physical restraint .…”

Substance-Use Disorders and Violence

“…Agitation and aggression were the main reported features in 48.2% of 2-(4-Iodo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-N-[(2-methoxyphenyl)methyl]ethanamine (25I-NBOMe; a psychedelic phenethylamine) toxicity cases in London nightclubs (Wood et al, 2015). High dosage, long-term use, of stimulants is typically associated with intense psychotic symptoms, including delusions and hallucinations (Harro, 2015), which can drive either suicidal ideation or heteroaggressiveness due to both high levels of DA increase but also the user's erroneous perception of danger (Fulde and Forster, 2015). Most troublesome adverse neuropsychiatric effects occur with h. Moreover, the persistent reduction in the serotonergic neurotransmission in abstinent users seems to contribute as well to increased levels of impulsivity and aggressive behaviours (Harro, 2015).…”

Psychostimulant-related health service demand in an inner-city hospital, 2012–2015

“…In Australia 1 and worldwide 2 , it has been claimed that methamphetamine use and its harmful 3,4 consequences may have reached 'epidemic' levels. 5 The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimated that more than 73 million people, or 1.58% of the global population, were using psychostimulants in 2014.…”