ArticleSubstance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy2023
Association between toxic drug events and encephalopathy in British Columbia, Canada: a cross-sectional analysis.
Article in Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Identifying Cognitive Impairment in People Who Are Homeless in Metropolitan Australia: An Exploratory Study.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2026Article
- High rates of cognitive impairment in people experiencing homelessness demand radical policy change.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2026Article
- Morbidity, mortality, and health outcomes following emergency department visits for fentanyl-related overdoses: A retrospective cohort study.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Article
- Economic and epidemiological burden of medical complications of unregulated drug use among people who inject drugs in Québec.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2026Article
- Bed-based care as a response to the overdose crisis: an approach to informing and evaluating proposed expansion.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2025Article
- Creating safe, inclusive spaces for hospital-based health care staff and people who use drugs: an exploratory qualitative study in Vancouver, Canada.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Chronic disease diagnoses and health service use among people who died of illicit drug toxicity in British Columbia, Canada.BMC medicine · 2024Article
- Associations with experience of non-fatal opioid overdose in British Columbia, Canada: a repeated cross sectional survey study.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEncephalopathy can occur from a non-fatal toxic drug event (overdose) which results in a partial or complete loss of oxygen to the brain, or due to long-term substance use issues. It can be categorized as a non-traumatic acquired brain injury or toxic encephalopathy. In the context of the drug toxicity crisis in British Columbia (BC), Canada, measuring the co-occurrence of encephalopathy and drug toxicity is challenging due to lack of standardized screening. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of encephalopathy among people who experienced a toxic drug event and examine the association between toxic drug events and encephalopathy.
methodsUsing a 20% random sample of BC residents from administrative health data, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis. Toxic drug events were identified using the BC Provincial Overdose Cohort definition and encephalopathy was identified using ICD codes from hospitalization, emergency department, and primary care records between January 1st 2015 and December 31st 2019. Unadjusted and adjusted log-binomial regression models were employed to estimate the risk of encephalopathy among people who had a toxic drug event compared to people who did not experience a toxic drug event.
resultsAmong people with encephalopathy, 14.6% (n = 54) had one or more drug toxicity events between 2015 and 2019. After adjusting for sex, age, and mental illness, people who experienced drug toxicity were 15.3 times (95% CI = 11.3, 20.7) more likely to have encephalopathy compared to people who did not experience a drug toxicity event. People who were 40 years and older, male, and had a mental illness were at increased risk of encephalopathy.
conclusionsThere is a need for collaboration between community members, health care providers, and key stakeholders to develop a standardized approach to define, screen, and detect neurocognitive injury related to drug toxicity.
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