title: Adolescent emergency department presentations with alcohol- or other drug-related problems in Perth, Western Australia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the morbidity, type of substance used and the pattern of presentation by adolescents with problems related to alcohol or other drug (AOD) use.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 4-week retrospective review of hospital records.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four metropolitan hospitals in Perth, Australia.
  
  
  METHODS
  There were 1064 presentations by people aged 12-19 years of which 160 (15%) were related to AOD use. The median age of the AOD cases was 17 (interquartile range 16-19) of whom 97 (61%) were male and 19 (12%) were Indigenous Australians.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Alcohol was the most frequent precursor to presentation (66, 41%) followed by heroin (24, 15%) and prescription/over-the-counter drugs (24, 15%). Injury was the most common diagnosis at presentation (50, 31%), followed by overdose/drug use (47, 29%). A diagnosis of injury was significantly more likely following the use of alcohol than other categories of substances (chi(2) = 42.07, df = 3, p < 0.001). Deliberate self-harm (DSH) occurred in more female than male cases (chi2 = 7.4, df = 1, p < 0.01). Presentations were more frequent over the weekend (102, 64%) than on weekdays, and the length of stay was significantly shorter for weekend cases (Mann-Whitney U 2132, p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given the small window of opportunity to provide AOD treatment to youth following hospital presentation, a number of suggestions are made. From a harm-minimization perspective the focus of interventions should be on alcohol use by male youth and DSH associated with prescription/over-the-counter drug use by female adolescents. In addition, Indigenous youth are over-represented in hospital presentations, but there is currently a lack of evaluated interventions designed for them.
authors: University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Science, QE II Medical Centre, Nedlands.
authors: G K
authors: GK
authors: Hulse
authors: S I
authors: SI
authors: Robertson
authors: R J
authors: RJ
authors: Tait
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D004630:Emergencies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D014904:Western Australia / Q000453:epidemiology