Different gender and age characteristics of the UK heroin epidemic of the 1990s compared with the 1980s - New evidence from analyses of National treatment data

TY - JOUR

T1 - Different gender and age characteristics of the UK heroin epidemic of the 1990s compared with the 1980s - New evidence from analyses of National treatment data

AU - Strang, J

AU - Taylor, C

PY - 1997/2

Y1 - 1997/2

N2 - The Home Office Addicts Index constitutes the only data set on opiate addiction across the UK on which it is possible to analyse trends over more than a decade. However, whilst tables of these data are published annually, no further analyses are currently undertaken. Changes in the characteristics of new addicts can be examined separately through study of the first-ever notifications of addiction, which are closer to the 'cutting edge' of an epidemic. These data indicate a major spread of the extent of opiate addiction in the UK during the first half of the 1980s, and also during the first half of the 1990s - separated by a 4-year period (1985-1989) during which there was no such increase. We have examined the characteristics of new addicts notified during these two periods and have found major differences in gender and age to which attention has not previously been drawn. The heroin epidemic of the early 1980s was gender-neutral, and mainly involved new heroin addicts who were notably young, with the proportion of new addicts aged under 25 reaching a historical peak in 1985. In contrast, the heroin epidemic of the early 1990s showed no such youth surge, and was instead characterised by a pronounced gender change, reversing the slow trend of the previous two decades, with males exceeding females by a peak of 3.5:1 in 1993. We discuss possible causes of these differences between the two epidemic phases, and express concern that such important changes could have gone largely unreported and unexplored.

AB - The Home Office Addicts Index constitutes the only data set on opiate addiction across the UK on which it is possible to analyse trends over more than a decade. However, whilst tables of these data are published annually, no further analyses are currently undertaken. Changes in the characteristics of new addicts can be examined separately through study of the first-ever notifications of addiction, which are closer to the 'cutting edge' of an epidemic. These data indicate a major spread of the extent of opiate addiction in the UK during the first half of the 1980s, and also during the first half of the 1990s - separated by a 4-year period (1985-1989) during which there was no such increase. We have examined the characteristics of new addicts notified during these two periods and have found major differences in gender and age to which attention has not previously been drawn. The heroin epidemic of the early 1980s was gender-neutral, and mainly involved new heroin addicts who were notably young, with the proportion of new addicts aged under 25 reaching a historical peak in 1985. In contrast, the heroin epidemic of the early 1990s showed no such youth surge, and was instead characterised by a pronounced gender change, reversing the slow trend of the previous two decades, with males exceeding females by a peak of 3.5:1 in 1993. We discuss possible causes of these differences between the two epidemic phases, and express concern that such important changes could have gone largely unreported and unexplored.

KW - heroin

KW - notifications

KW - gender

KW - age

KW - epidemic

KW - SEX-DIFFERENCES

KW - GENERAL-PRACTITIONERS

KW - ADDICT CAREERS

KW - OPIATE MISUSE

KW - DRUG

KW - USERS

KW - NOTIFICATION

KW - SYSTEM

KW - WOMEN

M3 - Article

SN - 1022-6877

VL - 3

SP - 43

EP - 48

JO - European Addiction Research

JF - European Addiction Research

IS - 1

ER -