Hospital and prehospital emergency service utilisation as an impact of acute recreational drug and ethanol toxicity

Abstract

Background: Recreational drug use can cause significant acute toxicity and is typically associated with the utilisation of hospital/prehospital emergency medical services and health-care costs.Aims: To determine the impact of recreational drug toxicity on the utilisation of emergency medical services and subsequent drug use.Design and Methods: A total of 2472 UK participants completed an anonymous online cross-sectional questionnaire. The use of emergency medical services for acute recreational drug and/or ethanol toxicity and its impact on drug use were surveyed.Results: Four hundred and sixty-one (19%) had previously utilised emergency medical services following drugs/ethanol; of these, 57% (259) attended a hospital emergency department, out of which 59% (152) needed hospital admission. Forty-three percent (49 of 113 respondents) believed their most recent episode that required medical assistance was due to using “too much drug”. Forty-five percent (50 of 112 respondents) stated they would continue to use or increase their drug use. Ten percent (11) reported that the episode had resulted in them stopping use.Conclusions: A significant proportion of individuals used hospital/prehospital emergency services for acute toxicity after recreational drugs and/or ethanol use. This caused little impact on behaviour in relation to subsequent use. More work is needed to understand how to use these episodes to change patterns of drug and/or ethanol use.