Indicadores indirectos de consumo de drogas: una alternativa a las encuestas de hogares

Rumbos (Colombia's Presidential Program Against Drug Abuse) carried out a pilot study on drug use based on selected indirect indicators. In this exploratory research, several public and private institutions from 17 Colombian cities participated voluntarily. The target sample for the study was taken from all the institutions identified that could provide information for each of the fourteen indirect indicators contemplated in the research study. The time frame for data collected covered 1995 to 1999. The goal was to assess the quality and reliability of the information available nation wide, and to create a basis for future systematic studies, which will support an accurate vision of the actual facts regarding drug use in Colombia. A first overview of the available information, showed a remarkable data heterogeneity. These differences were noted in terms of the type and characteristics of the information. This situation made necessary to elaborate a format aimed to collect a standardized basic data. The format requests information on name and type of the institution (hospital, treatment center, police station etc.), date and time of the occurrence of the event, city, and basic social and demographic data on drug user such as sex, age, place of residence zone and substance used. Taking into account the huge volume of information obtained, and the different categories under which it may falls, it is possible to show only some of the main results, just to illustrate the advantages of the employed strategy -indirect indicators- a strategy that could be useful in other Hispanic-American countries. (Review's abstract.)