Adolescent emergency department presentations with alcohol‐ or other drug‐related problems in Perth, Western Australia

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Abstract
To identify the morbidity, type of substance used and the pattern of presentation by adolescents with problems related to alcohol or other drug (AOD) use. A 4-week retrospective review of hospital records. Four metropolitan hospitals in Perth, Australia. There were 1064 presentations by people aged 12-19 years of which 160 (15%) were related to AOD use. The median age of the AOD cases was 17 (interquartile range 16-19) of whom 97 (61%) were male and 19 (12%) were Indigenous Australians. Alcohol was the most frequent precursor to presentation (66, 41%) followed by heroin (24, 15%) and prescription/over-the-counter drugs (24, 15%). Injury was the most common diagnosis at presentation (50, 31%), followed by overdose/drug use (47, 29%). A diagnosis of injury was significantly more likely following the use of alcohol than other categories of substances (chi(2) = 42.07, df = 3, p < 0.001). Deliberate self-harm (DSH) occurred in more female than male cases (chi2 = 7.4, df = 1, p < 0.01). Presentations were more frequent over the weekend (102, 64%) than on weekdays, and the length of stay was significantly shorter for weekend cases (Mann-Whitney U 2132, p < 0.05). Given the small window of opportunity to provide AOD treatment to youth following hospital presentation, a number of suggestions are made. From a harm-minimization perspective the focus of interventions should be on alcohol use by male youth and DSH associated with prescription/over-the-counter drug use by female adolescents. In addition, Indigenous youth are over-represented in hospital presentations, but there is currently a lack of evaluated interventions designed for them.

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