ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2017
Excess mortality among people who report lifetime use of illegal drugs in the United States: A 20-year follow-up of a nationally representative survey.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed.
- Characteristics linked to mortality risk among individuals with drug use disorders enrolled in drug rehabilitation facilities in Japan.PCN reports : psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2025Article
- Contribution of Posttuberculosis Sequelae to Life-Years Lost from Tuberculosis Disease in the United States, 2015-2019.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2025Article
- Mortality risk among people receiving acute hospital care for hallucinogen use compared with the general population.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2025Article
- Characterizing the Use of Healthcare Access Supports Among People Who Use Drugs in Vancouver, Canada, 2017 to 2020: A Cohort Study.Substance use & addiction journal · 2024Article
- Addressing nutrition and physical activity in substance use disorder treatment: Client reports from a wellness-oriented, tobacco-free policy intervention.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2023Article
- Opportunities and ChallengesAJPM focus · 2023Article
- The association between all-cause mortality and HIV acquisition risk groups in the United States, 2001-2014.PloS one · 2023Article
- Suboptimal nonmedical qualities of primary care linked with care avoidance among people who use drugs in a Canadian setting amid an integrated health care reform.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2022Article
- Associations between illicit drug use in early adulthood and mortality: Findings from a National Birth Cohort.Preventive medicine · 2022Article
- The impact of levamisole and alcohol on white matter microstructure in adult chronic cocaine users.Addiction biology · 2022Article
- Cohort study of team-based care among marginalized people who use drugs in Ottawa.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2022Article
- The burden of mental disorders attributable by cocaine use: Global Burden of Diseases Study in Brazil, 1990 and 2019.Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical · 2022Article
- Article
- The impact of Taiwan's implementation of a nationwide harm reduction program in 2006 on the use of various illicit drugs: trend analysis of first-time offenders from 2001 to 2017.Harm reduction journal · 2021Article
- Long-Term Cost-Effectiveness of Smoking Cessation Interventions in People With Mental Disorders: A Dynamic Decision Analytical Model.Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research · 2021Article
- High prevalence of unmet healthcare need among people who use illicit drugs in a Canadian setting with publicly-funded interdisciplinary primary care clinics.Substance abuse · 2021Article
- Engagement in primary health care among marginalized people who use drugs in Ottawa, Canada.BMC health services research · 2020Article
- Article
- Worldwide trends in suicide mortality from 1990 to 2015 with a focus on the global recession time frame.International journal of public health · 2019Article
- The contribution of drug-related deaths to the US disadvantage in mortality.International journal of epidemiology · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe purpose of this study was to determine the mortality risks, over 20 years of follow-up in a nationally representative sample, associated with illegal drug use and to describe risk factors for mortality.
methodsWe analyzed data from the 1991 National Health Interview Survey, which is a nationally representative household survey in the United States, linked to the National Death Index through 2011. This study included 20,498 adults, aged 18-44 years in 1991, with 1047 subsequent deaths. A composite variable of self-reported lifetime illegal drug use was created (hierarchical categories of heroin, cocaine, hallucinogens/inhalants, and marijuana use).
resultsMortality risk was significantly elevated among individuals who reported lifetime use of heroin (HR=2.40, 95% CI: 1.65-3.48) and cocaine (HR=1.27, 95% CI: 1.04-1.55), but not for those who used hallucinogens/inhalants or marijuana, when adjusting for demographic characteristics. Baseline health risk factors (smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, and BMI) explained the greatest amount of this mortality risk. After adjusting for all baseline covariates, the association between heroin or cocaine use and mortality approached significance. In models adjusted for demographics, people who reported lifetime use of heroin or cocaine had an elevated mortality risk due to external causes (poisoning, suicide, homicide, and unintentional injury). People who had used heroin, cocaine, or hallucinogens/inhalants had an elevated mortality risk due to infectious diseases.
conclusionsHeroin and cocaine are associated with considerable excess mortality, particularly due to external causes and infectious diseases. This association can be explained mainly by health risk behaviors.
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