title: Artefact or reality? Increases in persons notified to the Regional Drug Misuse Database in the South West of England, 1996-2001.
abstract: The incidence of new persons and repeat attenders presenting for treatment for problem drug misuse in the South West of England more than doubled from 1996-1997 to 2000-2001. During this time there was an increase in the number and severity of chronic cases, both in terms of the prevalence of heroin and crack-cocaine use and in the frequency of injecting and sharing injecting equipment. Growth in the availability of treatment, changes in notification practice and sub-regional variation make it difficult to be confident about real rates of increase, or age, gender and substance misuse changes, but the size of these changes mean they are unlikely to be purely artefactal.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health & Social Care, University of the West of England, Glenside Campus, Blackberry Hill, Bristol BS16 1DD.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Soteriou
authors.forename: Selena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: Judy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Orme
authors.forename: Judy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Myles
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008498:Medical Record Linkage; D008875:Middle Aged; D016485:Needle Sharing; D015995:Prevalence; D040442:Public Health Informatics; D017678:Sex Distribution; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D017211:Treatment Failure