Polysubstance use, mental health and high‐risk behaviours: Results from the 2012 Global Drug Survey. (13th April 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Morley, Katherine I.; Lynskey, Michael T.; Moran, Paul; Borschmann, Rohan; Winstock, Adam R.
• Is Part Of: Drug and alcohol review. Volume 34:Number 4(2015)
• Page Start: 427
• Page End: 437
• Publication Date: 2015-04-13
• Subjects: Substance abuse -- Periodicals; Alcoholism -- Periodicals; Drinking of alcoholic beverages -- Periodicals; 616.86
• DOI: 10.1111/dar.12263
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-5236

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="dar12263-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Introduction and Aims</title> <p>Polysubstance use is associated with adverse health and social outcomes, but few studies have investigated whether these associations differ between individuals engaged in different patterns of illicit drug and non‐prescription medication use.</p> </sec> <sec id="dar12263-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Design and Methods</title> <p>Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify patterns of drug use in the Global Drug Survey, a purposive sample collected in late 2012 and surveyed using an online questionnaire including past‐year drug use, sociodemographics, mental illness, involvement in violence and sexual behaviour. The sample analysed (<italic>n</italic> = 14 869; median age 27 years; 68.5% male) included those residing in the UK (<italic>n</italic> = 5869), Australia (<italic>n</italic> = 6313) and the USA (<italic>n</italic> = 2687).</p> </sec> <sec id="dar12263-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>LCA of cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine, stimulants, nitrous, ketamine, benzodiazepines and opioid painkiller use identified six classes: no polysubstance use (Class 1, 49.1%); cannabis and ecstasy (Class 2, 23.6%); all illicit drugs (Class 3, 9.4%); ecstasy and cocaine (Class 4, 8.3%); cannabis and medication (Class 5, 5.9%); and all drugs (Class 6, 3.8%). Participants diagnosed with anxiety were most likely to belong to Class 5 [odds ratio (OR) 2.66, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.10–3.38]. Violent behaviour was most strongly associated with Class 6 membership (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.36–2.64). Sexual risk‐taking also predicted membership of this class (OR 5.79, 95% CI 4.66–7.18) and Class 4 (OR 4.41, 95% CI 3.57–5.43).</p> </sec> <sec id="dar12263-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Discussion and Conclusions</title> <p>Five heterogeneous groups of polysubstance users were identified in this international sample covering the UK, Australia and USA. Anxiety disorders were associated with medication and cannabis use, while high‐risk behaviours predicted use of cocaine and ecstasy, or wide‐ranging polysubstance use including ketamine and medications. Morley KI, Lynskey MT, Moran P, Borschmann R, Winstock AR. Polysubstance use, mental health and high‐risk behaviours: Results from the 2012 Global Drug Survey. <italic>Drug Alcohol Rev</italic> 2015;34:427–37]</p> </sec> </abstract>