Self-reported Illicit Drug Use Research Articles

Alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use amongst nurses: A Scottish study

This paper examines patterns of self-reported alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use amongst a representative sample of 600 qualified nurses in the Lothian Region of Scotland. General levels of alcohol use were not exceptional. Even so, levels of tobacco smoking and the use of illicit drugs were higher than for the general population. Female psychiatric nurses were significantly more likely than female medical or surgical nurses to smoke tobacco, to drink heavily and to have experienced adverse alcoholrelated consequences.

Alcohol, AIDS risks and commercial sex: some preliminary results from a Scottish study

During 1988 self-report data were elicited from a study of 102 male and 103 female sex workers (prostitutes) in Edinburgh. Respondents were contacted by ‘snowballing’, mostly in licensed premises. This was reflected by high levels of self-reported alcohol and illicit drug use. Respondents reported that both alcohol and illicit drug use were commonplace in relation to their work and that many of their clients were under alcohol or drug effect at the time of contact. Condom use was unrelated to sex workers' alcohol or drug use, but was significantly associated with sex workers' assessments of the proportions of their clients also under the influence of illicit drugs.

The Reliability and Validity of Drug Use Responses in a Large Scale Longitudinal Survey

The problem of developing reliable and valid measures is potentially greater for drug use than for other behaviors because the use of many of the drugs is Illegal and disapproved of by society. In the absence of independent criteria, responses to drug use questions may be tested for consistency and validity. In a survey based on a representative sample of 8,206 New York State public secondary school students, we find that self-reported Illicit drug use is consistent at one point in time, but less so over time. Self-reported Illicit drug use is strongly related to adolescents' attributes as well as to data independently obtained from best school friends. Only a very small proportion of respondents report the use of a fictitious drug. However, inconsistencies over time are related to sporadic patterns of drug use, suggesting that the failure to report certain types of drug use is more the result of poor recall than of willful concealment of use. Underreporting is potentially a greater problem in drug research than overreporting.