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ABSTRACT: Background
There are limited data on reasons for hospital admission among patients dependent on substances other than alcohol. We compared primary discharge diagnoses for heroin- or cocaine-dependent patients to non-dependent patients.Material and methods
We evaluated a cohort of patients admitted to a general medicine service at a public teaching hospital during July 2005-June 2008. Through bedside interviews, we identified patients who had substance-use disorders. We categorized patients by substance used, route of administration, and dependent or non-dependent use. We grouped diagnostic codes (i.e., ICD-9) using Healthcare Utilization Project categories. We excluded HIV-infected patients.Results
Of 11,397 patients, 341 (3.0%) were dependent on inhalational heroin, 260 (2.3%) on non-injection cocaine, and 106 (0.9%) on injection heroin. Compared to non-dependent patients, inhalational heroin-dependent patients were over three-fold more likely to have been admitted for respiratory diseases (28% vs. 8%, p<0.01); this association was strongest for asthma exacerbation (OR=7.0; 95% CI, 4.7 to 70.4, p<0.01). Of the 225 admissions for an asthma exacerbation, 44 (19.6%) had co-occurrent heroin-dependence. The most frequent diagnostic category among cocaine-dependent patients was circulatory, which was similar to non-dependent patients (22% vs. 21%, p=0.92).Discussion
There is a strong association between heroin dependence and hospital admission for an asthma exacerbation. Provision of specialized substance-use treatment for inhalational heroin users will be necessary to reduce the frequency of exacerbations and repeat hospital admissions.
SUBMITTER: Choi H
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4479595 | biostudies-literature | 2015
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Choi Humberto H Krantz Anne A Smith Jennifer J Trick William W
PloS one 20150624 6
<h4>Background</h4>There are limited data on reasons for hospital admission among patients dependent on substances other than alcohol. We compared primary discharge diagnoses for heroin- or cocaine-dependent patients to non-dependent patients.<h4>Material and methods</h4>We evaluated a cohort of patients admitted to a general medicine service at a public teaching hospital during July 2005-June 2008. Through bedside interviews, we identified patients who had substance-use disorders. We categorize ...[more]