OVERDOSE AMONG HEROIN USERS IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA .1. PREVALENCE AND CORRELATES OF NONFATAL OVERDOSE

A sample of 329 heroin users were interviewed regarding their personal experience of non-fatal heroin overdose. Experience of overdose was w idespread, with two-thirds of subjects (68%) reporting having overdose d. The median number of life-time overdoses was three, with males and females equally likely to have overdosed. The majority (62%) of most r ecent heroin overdoses occurred in conjunction with the consumption of other central nervous system depressants (alcohol, benzodiazepines an d other opioids). Logistic regression analyses indicated three indepen dent factors associated with having overdosed: longer heroin using car eers, greater heroin dependence and higher levels of alcohol consumpti on. Implications for the reduction in the prevalence and frequency of overdose are discussed.