Epidemiology of Inhalant Abuse - Archives - National Institute on ...

GENERAL STUDIES
Kisszekelyi (1980) examined 25 inhalant users (12 males, 13 females) in
1973 at the request <strong>of</strong> the municipality. Their average age was 14 years;
three were employed, while the rest were enrolled in school. Other
studies reported on two to three groups consisting <strong>of</strong> between 25 and
50 youths in 1976 and 1977 that explored the social background and
lifestyle <strong>of</strong> inhalant users. They found that most <strong>of</strong> the subjects were in
elementary school, that males were more represented in their sample, that
their parents were mainly laborers, and that a great many <strong>of</strong> the subjects
came from broken homes (Farkasinszky 1976; Kisszekelyi 1973). One
followup study showed that, out <strong>of</strong> one group <strong>of</strong> 48 students, 30 did not
continue their school studies after age 14 (this was the mandatory age
limit for school attendance at that time) (Lakne 1976).
Out <strong>of</strong> 50 inhalant abusers, Farkasinszky found that 22 had dysharmonic
personalities and that solitary users were latent depressive (Farkasinszky
1976). In a later study <strong>of</strong> 476 treated substance abusers from the Mental
Health Center for Adolescents in Szeged, Farkasinszky (1987) found that
9 had died (1.9 percent)—half <strong>of</strong> them having committed suicide.
Twenty-nine percent had at least one previous suicide attempt, and
30 percent had been hospitalized mainly for detoxification.
Farkas (1981) examined the annual reports substance abusers made to the
health care system between 1976 and 1981 (figure 1). In 1976, 98 cases
were reported; in 1977, 215; in 1978, 97; in 1979, 81; in 1980, 870; and
in the first half <strong>of</strong> 1981, 700. This number increased to 3,125 in 1991,
200 cases more than in the previous year.
Racz (1985) conducted a long-term survey on subcultures, analyzing peer
involvement, the group identification process, sociometry, and members’
substance use characteristics. This was a pioneering effort to understand
the “peer phenomenon” in a specific subculture and its impact on drug
abuse.
Zsuzsa Elekes, a sociologist, conducted a well-designed survey in 1991
on different groups <strong>of</strong> substance abusers and tried to provide an overall
view <strong>of</strong> the drug problem (Elekes 1991). She selected 4 groups, each <strong>of</strong>
them consisting <strong>of</strong> 30 drug abusers: inmates in a prison for juvenile
delinquents; residents <strong>of</strong> a special education institution for problem
youth; problem youth in the Pentecostal Church; and a group selected by
the snowball method. The following characteristics <strong>of</strong> these 120 drug
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