Estimating prevalence of problem drug use at national level in countries of the European Union and Norway (2003)

FRANÇAIS :
A partir des données des services de traitement et de la police, des données sur la mortalité et le VIH/sida, la prévalence des problèmes liés à l'usage de drogues a été estimée dans les pays de l'Union Européenne et en Norvège. Six types d'usage, qui se recoupent partiellement, ont été identifiés : usage d'opiacés, usage d'opiacés et de cocaïne, usage d'amphétamines et d'opiacés, usage de drogues, usage injectable actuel et usage injectable au cours de la vie. Les conclusions de cet article ont porté plus sur les biais méthodologiques que sur les estimations : les populations cibles varient énormément d'un pays à l'autre ce qui rend les comparaisons difficiles et qui demanderait une harmonisation des données entre les pays.
ENGLISH :
Objectives: This paper will present the most recent estimates for problematic drug use in European Member States and explore the problems of comparability. Methods: Estimates of problematic drug use, derived according to agreed guidelines, were collected from all EU countries and Norway. Methods: included multipliers based on treatment. police, mortality or AIDS/HIV data, the capture-recapture method and the multivariate indicator method. Prevalence estimates were transformed into rates per 1000 population aged 15-64 years. Results: Target populations varied according to data selection. Estimates for six partially overlapping types of drug use could be identified: 'problem opiate use', 'problem opiate or cocaine use', `problem amphetamine or opiate use'. 'problem- drug use.', '(current) injecting' and 'life-time injecting'. Rates of injectors ranged from 2.6 in Germany to 4.8 in Luxembourg; rates in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Portugal and the United Kingdom fell within this range. For problem opiate use, a group of high prevalence countries were found with average rates exceeding six cases (Italy, Luxembourg. Spain and the United Kingdom) and a group with lower prevalence with average rates close to three cases (Austria, Germany Ireland, the Netherlands). Rates obtained for France (problem opiate or cocaine use), Finland and Sweden (problem amphetamine or opiate use) are not directly comparable and fall between these rates. Conclusions: Cross-national comparisons should be made with care and estimated target populations rnay vary greatly between countries. For estimating various forms of problem drug use at national level, a multi-method approach is recommended.