Male Heroin Users Research Articles

Thrombocytopenia and intravenous heroin use.

Five young male heroin users presented with a syndrome resembling acute immune thrombocytopenic purpura. Although a viral, autoimmune, or toxic origin cannot be conclusively excluded at present, data are most consistent with the hypothesis that the thrombocytopenia was due to a drug-related immunologic mechanism that resulted in peripheral platelet destruction. Epidemiologic considerations suggest the common agent involved in their illnesses was present in the heroin they used. Although glucocorticoid therapy was followed by clinical recovery in four of the five patients (one was lost to follow-up), it is not certain that this represented a causal relation.

Family life and levels of involvement in an adolescent heroin epidemic.

Family life was examined in relation to different levels of heroin involvement, use of other drugs, and deviant behavior. The study population included heroin addicts, experimenters, persons exposed but not using heroin, and a comparison sample of persons who neither used nor were exposed to heroin. More elements of family life were related to heroin use by females than males. The relationship with the opposite sex parent had the strongest impact on both male and female heroin users.

The adjustment of drug addicts as measured by the sentence completion test.

Summary The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank was administered to fifty out-patients at a rehabilitation center for narcotic addicts. There were twenty male heroin users, twenty male pill users, and ten female heroin users. Interscorer, intrascorer, and split-half reliabilities were all high. It was found that a cutting score of adjustment of 135 correctly identified 80 per cent of the male heroin users, 90 per cent of the male pill users, and 100 per cent of the female heroin users.