ARTICLE INFO

Article Type

Descriptive & Survey Study

Authors

Ghadir Zadeh   M. (1)
Yarinasab   F. (*2)
Amini   K. (2)
Nazari   I. (3)
Salari   A. (4)






(*2) Legal Medicine Research Center, Legal Medicine Organization, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Iran
(1) Legal Medicine Research Center, Legal Medicine Organization, Tehran, Iran
(3) Psychology Department, Humanities Faculty, Ahvaz International Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran
(4) Criminal Law & Criminology Department, Science & Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Yasuj, Iran

Correspondence

Address: Legal Medicine Organization, Hejrat 3 Alley, Shariati Street, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Iran. Postal Code: 7591781157
Phone: +98 (74) 33235412
Fax: +98 (74) 33223616
Yarinasab.f@gmail.com

Article History

Received:  December  30, 2018
Accepted:  July 24, 2019
ePublished:  September 21, 2019

BRIEF TEXT


Addiction is one of the crises of the twenty-first century and is considered as a leading social threats and harms, which has challenged most of the communities, especially Iran [1, 2].

... [3-8]. ... [9]. Opioids are the most common drugs in Iran. Common opioids in Iran include opium, syrup, heroin and codeine that are used orally and also by inhalation and injection [10]. Various studies have shown an increasing trend of drug poisoning, especially opioid addiction and the resulted deaths [11-13]. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2019, around 35 million worldwide suffered from drug abuse disorders and required health care [14]. In a study in 2009 in Washington, 1,668 people died due to drug use, which are 6.4 deaths per 100,000 deaths a year [15]. A study in the United States showed that the total rate of drug poisoning cases during 1999 to 2006 has more than tripled [6]. … [16-18].

The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of drug-related deaths in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province during 2013 to 2018.

This research was a cross-sectional descriptive study.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the recorded deaths in Legal Medicine Organization of the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province (Yasuj, Dehdasht and Gachsaran) in 2013-2014.

The sample consisted of 123 individuals who were studied by census method. The cases whose medical records were incomplete were excluded.

The deaths caused by drugs and other psychotropics were confirmed in Legal Medicine Organization toxicology laboratories by sampling various tissues, such as blood, bile, stomach, urine, vitreous fluid. Data were collected from the samples’ documents using a form containing personal and demographic information and the questions related to laboratory and diagnostic findings. Data were analyzed by SPSS 21 software using descriptive statistics (frequency, percent) and chi-square test.

In total, 123 cases were examined, of which 115 cases were male and the rest were female. The majority of cases recorded in Legal Medicine Organization were 20-30 years old, single, with diploma education and below, with non-governmental jobs and also those who were unemployed (Table 1).More than half of the cases had used one substance and 19.7% consumed different substances, of which opium-methadone had the highest rate (28.4%). Opium, methadone, and tramadol were the most commonly used opiates. There was also a significant difference between drug-related deaths in 2013 to 2017 in opium, heroin, methamphetamine, tramadol and methadone (p <0.05; Table 2).

… [19–25]. In terms of age, the most of the subjects were between 20 and 30 years (37.4%) with more than half (54.5%) single, 35.8% married, and 9.8% divorced. Our results are consistent with the results of previous studies, including the study of Hejazi et al. [19], Shekarzadeh et al. [21], Najari & Afshar [26], Amooe & Taremian [27], Khalkhali et al. [28], and Popova et al. [29]. According to the results, the highest level of education was diploma (35.8%) and guidance school (32.5%) and the majority of cases had non-governmental jobs (42.3%) and were unemployed (26.0%). This is in line with the results of previous studies [19, 20] and also Dung study, in which 78% of drug-related deaths occur in people with high school education and below [30]. … [31-34].

Prospective studies using larger sample sizes are suggested.

One of the limitations of the study is its retrospective design, which can lead to uncertainty in answering the questions answered by the relatives of the dead cases to complete their documents.

Drug-related deaths in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province in 2013-17 was observed in young people with low level of education and also those with low-income level and unemployed, and addiction to methadone and tramadol has been increasing over the years.

The authors would like to thank the Legal Medicine Organization of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province and all who cooperated to carry out this research.

None declared.

This research was registered at the SAMAT website (1398820-15102) and approved by the Research Council and the Legal Medicine Organization Research Center of the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.

The study was funded by the Plan and Budget Organization and the Legal Medicine Organization of the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.

TABLES and CHARTS

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