Polydrug use - prevalence and registration

• Published in: Tidsskrift for den Norske Lægeforening Vol. 139; no. 13
• Main Authors: Walderhaug, Espen, Seim-Wikse, Karl Johan, Enger, Asle, Milin, Oleg
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Norwegian
• Published: 24.09.2019
• ISSN: 0807-7096
• DOI: 10.4045/tidsskr.19.0251

BACKGROUNDCombination of drugs is the main cause of fatal overdose, and polydrug use is associated with greater treatment needs. This study investigates the prevalence and registration of multiple substance dependence. MATERIAL AND METHODSubstance dependence diagnoses for 147 inpatients at the Department of Addiction Treatment, Oslo University Hospital were registered and reassessed with a focus on the ICD-10 diagnosis F19 (chaotic intake of multiple substances). The resulting diagnoses were also assessed according to ICD-11. RESULTSAltogether 116 (79 %) out of 147 patients were addicted to two or more drugs. Only 22 (15 %) out of 147 were diagnosed with F19, but this figure increased to 52 (35 %) after reassessment. Using ICD-11 we found a prevalence of the diagnosis 6C4F (multiple substance dependence) of 79 %. INTERPRETATIONWe found an underreporting of the ICD-10 diagnosis F19. It is important to use the F19 diagnosis, because polydrug use is underreported, even though it predicts overdose, prognosis and treatment needs.