PMID- 15967584
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20061205
LR  - 20060327
IS  - 0306-4603 (Print)
IS  - 0306-4603 (Linking)
VI  - 31
IP  - 4
DP  - 2006 Apr
TI  - Psychiatric severity and mortality in substance abusers: a 15-year follow-up of 
      drug users.
PG  - 559-65
AB  - Previous research has shown that most transitions into abstinence happens in the 
      stages of the drug career quickly after the first treatment episode. Mortality is 
      somewhat reduced for patients who become abstinent, but remains high for patients 
      who remain addicted. However, even among substance abusers who become abstinent, 
      mortality is often higher than in the general population. A consecutive sample of 
      drug users admitted for detoxification was followed for 15 years. Face-to-face 
      interviews were conducted at 5-year follow-up. At 15-year follow-up, 24% were 
      dead. Cox proportional hazard regression was conducted to predict mortality for 
      continuous variables, and Gehan's Wilcoxon test was used to predict mortality for 
      dichotomous variables. Psychiatric status at 5-year follow-up was predictive of 
      15-year mortality, whereas abstinence was not. Subjects who later died had higher 
      scores on the Symptom Checklist 90 [SCL-90] Global Severity Index, lower 
      meaningfulness on the Sense of Coherence scale, and lower Global Assessment of 
      Functioning [GAF] scores at 5-year follow-up. By contrast, there were no 
      associations between baseline drug use and antisocial personality disorder 
      diagnoses and mortality. Psychiatric treatment, including psychotherapy, may be 
      more life-saving for substance abusers than drug-abuse services.
FAU - Fridell, Mats
AU  - Fridell M
AD  - Lund University, Department of Psychology, Box 213, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden.
FAU - Hesse, M
AU  - Hesse M
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20050620
PL  - England
TA  - Addict Behav
JT  - Addictive behaviors
JID - 7603486
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - Amphetamine-Related Disorders/mortality/psychology
MH  - Antisocial Personality Disorder/mortality/psychology
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Opioid-Related Disorders/mortality/psychology
MH  - Personality Disorders/mortality/psychology
MH  - Prognosis
MH  - Prospective Studies
MH  - Risk Factors
MH  - Severity of Illness Index
MH  - Substance-Related Disorders/*mortality/psychology
EDAT- 2005/06/22 09:00
MHDA- 2006/12/09 09:00
CRDT- 2005/06/22 09:00
PHST- 2005/02/04 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2005/05/17 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2005/06/22 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2006/12/09 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2005/06/22 09:00 [entrez]
AID - S0306-4603(05)00138-3 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.addbeh.2005.05.036 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Addict Behav. 2006 Apr;31(4):559-65. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2005.05.036. Epub 2005 
      Jun 20.