Recreational Drug Use Amongst Children and Adolescents Presenting to Australian Emergency Departments With Acute
Elyssia M Bourke1,2,3,4,5,6, Kate Klein1,2,3, Chris J Selman3,4,7
1Emergency Research Group, Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Objectives:
To describe the historical and current use of recreational drugs by a trial cohort of youth presenting to the emergency department (ED) whilst experiencing acute behavioural disturbance (ABD).
Methods:
This was a secondary analysis of a randomised, controlled trial comparing medication management of ABD in children and adolescents aged nine to 17 years who were deemed to require oral sedative medication.
Results:
Recreational drugs were used by 33% of participants any time prior to enrolment (115/348). Cannabis was the most commonly used (87/348, 25%), followed by amphetamines/methamphetamines (32/348, 9%) and benzodiazepines (26/348, 7%).
Conclusion:
Recreational drug use may be a contributing factor to ABD amongst children and adolescents presenting to EDs.
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