Prevalence and Patterns of Polydrug Use in Latin America: Analysis of Population-based Surveys in Six Countries

Abstract

The abuse of multiple substances continues to be a major public health concern in the United States, Latin America and other countries in the world. Recent studies have revealed that polydrug use has increased in many European countries. The main objective of this study was to determine the patterns of polydrug use in several Latin American countries. The data for this study was derived from separate studies conducted in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay and Perú. In each country a household survey was conducted using a multistage, stratified, cluster sample design. In all six countries, probabilistic samples of household residents aged 12 to 65 years of age were selected in three stages. The data were collected by a face to face interview using the same structured questionnaire, which was based on the Inter-American Uniform Drug Use Data System (SIDUC). A multivariate ordinal logistic regression model was fitted to assess the effects of country of origin on polydrug use, after adjusting for age and gender. The overall prevalence of polydrug use was 21%. The multivariate ordinal logistic regression model showed that males, participants aged 18 to 34 years and those from Chile, Uruguay and Argentina were significantly more likely to be polydrug users after adjusting for age and sex. This is the first study that documents the burden of polydrug use in Latin American countries. Future epidemiological studies should be conducted to examine the relationship between other demographic characteristics and risk behaviors with patterns of polydrug use.

Measuring Concurrent Polydrug Use in General Populations: A Critical Assessment

“…Given this, what can be concluded from the results of previous studies where the prevalence of CPU varies between 3.3% [8] and 21% [29] among adults, between 12% [24] and 26% [30] among students, and between 3.5% [23] and 30% [16] among adolescents? All of these describe the prevalence of CPU among the general population, but since different measurements have been used, the results are barely comparable.…”

Factors Associated with Poly Drug Use in Adolescents

“…11%) (White & Williams, 2016 Matter survey, use of alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis was defined as any consumption in the last 30 days (categorized dichotomously: 0 = no, 1 = yes). Poly drug use was treated as a multiple-level variable and categorized as follows: 0 = no drug use, 1 = use of one substance, 2 = use of any two substances, 3 = use of all three substances (as per Reyes, Perez, Colón, Dowell, & Cumsille, 2013). Respondents were also asked about their use of other drugs such as ecstasy, meth/amphetamines, cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants, heroin, and steroids, and their use of prescription drugs for non-medical purposes.…”

Multiple DSM‐5 substance use disorders: A national study of US adults

“…Approximately one in every ten U.S. adults will develop a non-alcohol drug use disorder involving cannabis, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, prescription opioids, sedatives/tranquilizers, stimulants, and/or other drugs in their lifetime (Grant et al, 2016; Hasin et al, 2016). While several studies have documented high rates of polysubstance use behaviors, these studies often fail to examine concurrent or multiple DSM-5 SUDs (Armour et al, 2014; Carter et al, 2013; Chen et al, 2014; Connor et al, 2014; McCabe et al, 2015; Midanik et al, 2007; Olthius et al, 2013; Quek et al, 2013; Reyes et al, 2013; Smith et al, 2011). Based on these high rates of polysubstance use behaviors, future research is needed that shifts from measures that are substance-specific to more sophisticated measures that account for multiple SUDs (Connor et al, 2014).…”