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Illicit drug use and its associated harms are growing public health problems. In Australia, it is involved in 6.9% of emergency department (ED) presentations and unintentional drug‐related death is a growing cause of death among young people. 

Nevertheless, toxicological testing is rarely performed during illicit drug‐related ED presentations, and information about the patterns of illicit drug use associated with such presentations is limited to statements by patients and clinicians’ interpretations of their clinical features.

This MJA research letter shares more.

Learning Outcomes

1. Explain key components of the research letter
2. List main findings
3. Identify patients with drug use patterns in ED presentations.

Details

Author: Sam Alfred, Peter Stockham, Emma Partridge, Alastair Ward, Hannah Green, Jake Mallon, Chris Kostakis, Andrew Camilleri and Daniel Haustead

Article Type: Research letter