title: Prevalence of substance abuse among patients with physical diseases seen in an emergency room in Japan.
abstract: According to a nationwide general population survey on drug use in Japan, the lifetime prevalence of methamphetamine is low when compared to the United States. To confirm the hypothesis of a lower point prevalence of methamphetamine in an emergency room (ER) in Japan than in the United States, we collected blood specimens from an urban area of heavy methamphetamine prevalence in Tokyo, Japan, and analyzed the sera using REMEDi-HS based on an unlinked anonymity. Twenty kinds of drugs other than psychotropics were detected in 55 of 279 subjects (19.7%). Nineteen kinds of psychotropics were detected in twenty (7.2%) subjects. Psychotropics were detected in eleven patients with physical diseases and no acute intoxication. Methamphetamines were detected in three subjects (1.09%, 95% confidence interval 1.073-1.088) and in one of 46 subjects with injury (2.2%). It is necessary to look at the methodological differences between this study and previous studies; however, this finding supports the lower point prevalence of methamphetamine in an ER in Japan than in an ER in the United States.
authors.affiliation: National Center Hospital for Mental, Nervous, and Muscular Disorders, Tokyo 187-8551, Japan. hirabaya@ncnpmusashi.gr.jp
authors.forename: Naotsugu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hirabayashi
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: Tomoki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Eiichi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hirabayashi
authors.forename: Siroh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mishima
authors.forename: Tetsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yukioka
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hanaoka
authors.forename: Makio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iimori
mesh_terms: D019969:Amphetamine-Related Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D035041:Anonymous Testing; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000097:blood; D003422:Critical Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008694:Methamphetamine / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000097:blood; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014041:Tokyo / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D008694:Methamphetamine