title: Mono- versus polydrug abuse patterns among publicly funded clients.
abstract: To examine patterns of mono- versus polydrug abuse, data were obtained from intake records of 69,891 admissions to publicly funded treatment programs in Tennessee between 1998 and 2004. While descriptive statistics were employed to report frequency and patterns of mono- and polydrug abuse by demographic variables and by study years, bivariate logistic regression was applied to assess the probability of being a mono- or polydrug abuser for a number of demographic variables. The researchers found that during the study period 51.3% of admissions reported monodrug abuse and 48.7% reported polydrug abuse. Alcohol, cocaine, and marijuana were the most commonly abused substances, both alone and in combination. Odds ratio favored polydrug abuse for all but one drug category-other drugs. Gender did not affect drug abuse patterns; however, admissions for African Americans and those living in urban areas exhibited higher probabilities of polydrug abuse. Age group also appeared to affect drug abuse patterns, with higher odds of monodrug abuse among minors and adults over 45 years old. The discernable prevalence of polydrug abuse suggests a need for developing effective prevention strategies and treatment plans specific to polydrug abuse.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Substance Abuse Treatment Evaluation (I-SATE), The University of Memphis, 316 Manning Hall, Memphis, Tennessee 38152, USA. skkedia@memphis.edu
authors.forename: Satish
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kedia
authors.forename: Marie A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sell
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Relyea
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008875:Middle Aged; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D013714:Tennessee; D017664:Uncompensated Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001741:Black or African American
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs