title: Periodicity of presentations of drugs of abuse and overdose in an emergency department.
abstract: In order to determine whether temporal factors impact on drugs of abuse and overdose presentations to an urban emergency department, we studied the records of 630 consecutive drug overdose presentations over a period from October 1987 to March 1990. Particular note was made of the time of day of presentation along with the nature of the drug(s) ingested. A significant curve (p less than 0.0005) was obtained for a 24 h period with a peak time of presentation being 6:32 pm (95% confidence interval of 1 h 54 min). Significant periodic rhythms were noted for cocaine, opiates, alcohol, analgesics, marijuana, and benzodiazepines. A 4.8 h periodic rhythm was demonstrated for cocaine, marijuana and alcohol-in-combination. We conclude that the emergency department should be most prepared to treat the drug overdose patient in the early evening and emergency department staffing should reflect this peak in demand.
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Raymond
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Leikin
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D002641:Chicago / Q000453:epidemiology; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D062787:Drug Overdose; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010507:Periodicity; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal