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A SURVEY OF DRUG USE IN A PART‐ABORIGINAL COMMUNITY
Author(s) -
KAMIEN MAX
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1975.tb111372.x
Subject(s) - quarter (canadian coin) , analgesic , medicine , substance abuse , drug , distress , psychiatry , demography , environmental health , geography , sociology , archaeology , clinical psychology
A survey of 92 Aboriginal households in the rural town of Bourke found a mean of seven separate containers of drugs in each house. One‐quarter of all medications and one‐half of all antibiotics had not been used in any therapeutic quantity. The prevalence of those taking analgesics on the day they were surveyed was 25 6% for men and 45 1% for women with the number of analgesic powders consumed ranging from one to 24. A significant correlation was found between regular analgesic consumption and psychiatric distress. Awareness of the potential dangers of analgesic abuse appeared to reduce the demand for analgesics.