A methodology for intensive case-finding and monitoring of drug use in Mexican community.
An intensive case-finding model of drug use is presented with respect to its advantages and limitations. Two approaches were used: (a) direct, in which the questions concerning drug use were asked openly by the field-workers, and (b) indirect, where the field-workers obtained information about drug use from general conversation with interviewees. The indirect approach was found to be very useful in contacting new drug users and in assessing the psycho-social context of drug use. This research suggests that the intensive case-finding method is suitable for a community where the majority of drug users form cohesive groups, while it was found to be less effective for the study of isolated cases.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D012737:Sex Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*