OPIATES OR COCAINE - MORTALITY FROM ACUTE REACTIONS IN 6 MAJOR SPANISH CITIES

Study objective - To describe temporal and geographical variations in mortality from acute reactions to opiates or cocaine and the demograph ic and toxicological characteristics of persons who died from these in major Spanish cities between 1983 and 1991. Design - Descriptive stud y. Data were obtained retrospectively from pathologists) reports. Sett ing - Cities of Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza, and Bi lbao. Subjects - Deaths from acute reactions to opiates or cocaine wer e defined as those in which pathologists' reports did not indicate any other cause of death and in which evidence was found of recent consum ption of these drugs. Main results - The mortality rate from acute rea ctions to opiate/cocaine per 100000 population in the six cities as a whole rose from 1.2 in 1983 to 8.2 in 1991. Average annual rates for t he whole period ranged from 1.7 in Seville to 4.9 in Barcelona. The ma le/female rates ratio was 5.9:1. The mean age of persons who died rose from 25.1 years in 1983 to 28 years in 1991. In more than 90% of the cases in whom toxicological tests were undertaken opiates were detecte d, and the proportion in which benzodiazepines or cocaine were detecte d increased during the period studied. Conclusions - Between 1983 and 1991 mortality from acute reactions to opiates/cocaine rose dramatical ly in major Spanish cities and significant differences in mortality be tween cities were found. Deaths were concentrated among men and young people. Acute drug reactions became one of the leading causes of death in persons 15-39 years of age, representing 11.1% of mortality from a ll causes in 1988 for this age group. Future studies should examine th e relationship between the temporal and geographical variations in thi s type of mortality and various personal, environmental and social fac tors.