Methamphetamine use in trauma patients: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND

There are indications that methamphetamine production and illicit use are increasing. We investigated the epidemiology of methamphetamine use in trauma patients in an area of heavy methamphetamine prevalence.

STUDY

DESIGN

This was a retrospective population-based review. We reviewed toxicology and alcohol test results in trauma patients admitted to the University of California, Davis, between 1989 and 1994 to the only trauma center serving a population of 1.1 million.

RESULTS

Positive methamphetamine rates nearly doubled between 1989 (7.4%) and 1994 (13.4%), compared with a minimal increase in cocaine rates (5.8% to 6.2%) and a decrease in blood alcohol rates (43% to 35%). Methamphetamine-positive patients were most likely to be Caucasian or Hispanic; cocaine-positive patients were most likely to be African American. Methamphetamine-positive patients were most commonly injured in motor vehicle collisions or motorcycle collisions; cocaine-positive patients were most commonly injured by assaults, gunshot wounds, or stab wounds. Cocaine positivity and alcohol positivity predicted a decreased need for emergency surgery and cocaine positivity predicted a decreased need for admission to the ICU.

CONCLUSIONS

Methamphetamine use in trauma patients increased markedly in our region between 1989 and 1994, alcohol rates decreased, and cocaine rates remained unchanged. Methamphetamine-positive patients had mechanisms of injury similar to those of alcohol-positive patients, so injury prevention strategies for methamphetamine should be patterned after strategies designed for alcohol.