NYMC Faculty Publications

Exploring Prospective Predictors of Illicit Drug-Toxicity Deaths: Evidence From the General Social Survey

Author Type(s)

Faculty

DOI

10.3109/10826084.2015.1018548

Journal Title

Substance Use & Misuse

First Page

1479

Last Page

1489

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2015

Department

Medicine

Keywords

Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Drug Overdose, Female, Humans, Illicit Drugs, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, Sexual Behavior, Surveys and Questionnaires, Young Adult

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This study was based on over 30,000 U.S. respondents who completed General Social Surveys between 1978 and 2002.

AIMS: We approached these respondents prospectively, comparing and contrasting the responses of those who subsequently died from drug-poisonings (N = 135) with all respondents who were still living, N = 23,559.

METHOD: We employed cross-tabulation and logistic regression analyses to test for statistically significant differences between drug-poisoning death casualties and all living respondents.

RESULTS: Consistent with past research findings, younger males were over-represented among drug death casualties. Also consistent with past studies, drug casualties showed evidence of perceiving themselves as socially marginalized in comparison to living respondents: More reported themselves in poorer health, as having been sexual minority members during the last 5 years, as having spent their younger years in homes where parents' marriages disrupted, with fewer owning homes and feeling less satisfied about their financial situations.

CONCLUSIONS: These exploratory findings obtained from a general population survey reinforce findings from clinical studies and help advance clinical assessments of potential at-risk individuals who might be identified sooner, lest they succumb to future fatal drug poisonings.

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