Estimating the numbers of children of problematic drug users and their residential circumstances to inform United Kingdom research, policy and practice

Abstract

Aims: To estimate the number of children of problematic drug users (PDU) in Cheshire and Merseyside (England) in 2007/08 and their residential circumstances using two national monitoring systems, and to assess the suitability of these systems for this purpose.Methods: The proportions of PDU reporting numbers of children were calculated (e.g. zero–40%, 1 child–20%) for three datasets (National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS), Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) and DIP/NDTMS amalgamated). Indirect standardization was used to estimate the number of children of PDU in Cheshire and Merseyside. The proportion of the overall population of under 16 years old who are children of PDU was calculated. Residential circumstances of children of PDU were examined using DIP data.Results: The estimated total number of children of PDU residing in Cheshire and Merseyside were 14,517 (NDTMS), 24,552 (DIP) and 19,029 (amalgamated dataset); 3.3% (NDTMS), 5.3% (DIP) and 4.3% (amalgamated dataset) of the total population were of under 16-year olds. Children of male and female PDU had different residential profiles.Conclusions: Findings illustrate the substantial potential burden of care on services and family members. Inconsistencies in data collection mean the use of these monitoring systems to produce estimates need further consideration.