Open AccessConfronting Death From Drug Self-Intoxication (DDSI): Prevention Through a Better Definition
Author(s) -
Ian Richard Hildreth Rockett,
Gordon S. Smith,
Eric D. Caine,
Nestor D. Kapusta,
Randy Hanzlick,
Gregory Luke Larkin,
Charles Naylor,
Kurt B. Nolte,
Ted R. Miller,
Sandra L. Putnam,
Diego De Leo,
John Kleinig,
Steven Stack,
Knox H. Todd,
David W. Fraser
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2014.302244
Subject(s) - medicine , injury prevention , suicide prevention , poison control , occupational safety and health , human factors and ergonomics , medical prescription , public health , drug overdose , drug , intervention (counseling) , environmental health , medical emergency , cause of death , psychiatry , disease , pathology , pharmacology
Suicide and other self-directed violence deaths are likely grossly underestimated, reflecting inappropriate classification of many drug intoxication deaths as accidents or unintentional and heterogeneous ascertainment and coding practices across states. As the tide of prescription and illicit drug-poisoning deaths is rising, public health and research needs would be better satisfied by considering most of these deaths a result of self-intoxication. Epidemiologists and prevention scientists could design better intervention strategies by focusing on premorbid behavior. We propose incorporating deaths from drug self-intoxication and investigations of all poisoning deaths into the National Violent Death Reporting System, which contains misclassified homicides and undetermined intent deaths, to facilitate efforts to comprehend and reverse the surging rate of drug intoxication fatalities.