NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE EPIDEMIOLOGIC ...

EPIDEMIOLOGIC TRENDS IN DRUG ABUSE—Panel on Methamphetamine Abuse: NIDA-Supported Research Studies
Panel on Methamphetamine Abuse: NIDA-Supported
Research Studies
Natural History of Methamphetamine
(MA) Abuse and Long-Term
Consequences
Mary-Lynn Brecht, Ph.D.
MAJOR FINDINGS
Major findings from a natural history study of 350
methamphetamine abusers admitted to publicly
funded drug abuse treatment programs in Los Angeles
County include the following:
• All had used alcohol, marijuana, and/or tobacco,
with 95 percent initiating one or more of these
prior to first use of MA. Ninety-seven percent
had also used at least one other drug, initiated
prior to first use of MA for 65 percent.
• The average age of first use of methamphetamine
was 19.
• More than one-half (51 percent) of the respondents
reported prolonged use of MA (at least 20
days per month for at least 36 months since the
age of 14).
• Health problems reported by a majority of the
users included weight loss (84 percent), sleeplessness
(78 percent), paranoia (67 percent), hallucinations
(61 percent), violent behavior (56
percent), and dental problems (55 percent).
• Prolonged MA use (more than 36 months) was
associated with current health problems and
lower self-reported health status.
• Pregnancy and fetal loss rates were higher than
national figures; 406 children were born to the
153 women in the sample. One-third (33 percent)
of these women reported having children with
disabilities; 75 percent had children who had
lived with someone else during at least some period
of the child’s life.
• Four of every 10 respondents reported continuous
MA abstinence for at least 12 months after
treatment discharge. Approximately 2 in 10 were
still MA abstinent 48 months after discharge
from treatment.
• Nearly one-half (46 percent) of the respondents
completed treatment. The average time in treatment
was 3.7 months. Respondents with longer
times in treatment were more likely to maintain
abstinence to 24 and 48 months after treatment.
• Time-to-relapse outcomes were worse for respondents
who sold MA and respondents who
experienced parental divorce during childhood.
BACKGROUND AND STUDY DESCRIPTION
From 1992 to 2002, there was a fivefold increase in
the number of methamphetamine treatment admissions
in California––from 5 to 27 percent of all
treatment admissions to outpatient and residential
programs. To better understand the impact of MA
use on the treatment system, a NIDA-funded study
[RO1 DA11020] was undertaken by the University of
California Los Angeles Integrated Substance Abuse
Programs (ISAP) to study the patterns of MA use and
the consequences of MA use on health, risk behaviors,
and treatment outcomes.
The ISAP study sample was randomly selected from
adults admitted to Los Angeles County-funded outpatient
and residential programs from 1995 to 1997
(most were admitted in 1996). The sample was stratified
by gender, ethnicity, and modality. Of the sample
selected…
• Seventy-six percent were located.
• Three-quarters (75 percent) of those located participated
in study interviews conducted in 1999–
2000 (n=365); 282 of them participated in a second
interview in 2001–2003.
• Complete data were available for analysis of the
first interview on 350 study subjects.
CONCLUSIONS
The major findings, as summarized above, are evidence
of the impact of MA abuse on users and the
treatment system.
Given the increase in MA treatment admissions, the
health problems of users, special needs (e.g., of children
born to MA abusers), and the long-term treatment
outcomes, there is a need to implement and
Proceedings of the Community Epidemiology Work Group, Vol. II, January 2005 319