Cocaine use in elder patients presenting to an inner-city emergency department.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of cocaine use in a population of elder patients presenting to an inner-city academic emergency department (ED).


METHODS
This was a prospective, blinded observational study of patients aged 60 years or older who presented to a large urban ED over a six-month period. A urine drug screen was performed on patients who had a sample obtained during treatment for routine analysis. Patients' demographic data were collected and compared.


RESULTS
A total of 5,677 visits met the inclusion criteria. Urine samples were obtained in 911 (16%) of these visits with 852 unique individuals. There were 18 cocaine-positive results among the 911 visits, for a rate of 2.0%. The rate of positive subjects was also 2.0% (17/852). The cocaine users were younger (66.4 +/- 7.2 vs. 76.0 +/- 8.7 years), predominantly male (88.9% vs. 46.6%), and more likely to be diagnosed with drug or alcohol abuse as compared with the cocaine-negative patients. However, there were no significant differences in disposition between the cocaine-positive and cocaine-negative groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Elder patients may have a higher prevalence of cocaine use than previously estimated by national registries.
Rivers
Emanuel
E
Department of Emergency Medicine and Surgery, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI 48202, USA. erivers1@hfhs.org
Shirazi
Ehsan
E
Aurora
Taruna
T
Mullen
Marie
M
Gunnerson
Kyle
K
Sheridan
Brendan
B
Eichhorn
Laura
L
Tomlanovich
Michael
M
D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000652:urine; D015897:Comorbidity; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
D013287:Illicit Drugs