[Spanish scientific production on drug dependence]

The investigation of drug dependency has been strengthened in the last few years in Spain. One indicator of the scientific production in one area is constituted by the analysis of the studies included in data bases.

The Spanish publications in the field of drug dependency from 1985-1990 were reviewed. The references of studies published by Spanish authors collected in MEDLINE with Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) corresponding to Substance abuse or Substance dependence were selected. The following studies were collected a) those in which Spain was reported as the country of the author; b) published in Spanish journals; c) those in which Spain was indicated as the MeSH; b) and c) were not included if the publications did not correspond to Spanish authors.

Three hundred thirty-one references were collected; 273 corresponded to Substance dependence and 58 to Substance abuse. The two themes most frequently studied were dependent on heroin (n = 99) and alcoholism (n = 94). Most studies were done in universities, mainly in schools of Medicine. Forty-three percent of the papers were signed by three or four authors. There were 1,044 authors; 844 (81%) authors published one article and 9 published seven or more. Twenty-three percent of the articles were published in 1988 and 20% in 1989. Three hundred thirty-one studies were published in 78 journals. Sixty percent of the journals published one article and 17% two. The journal which published the most articles were Medicina Clínica (n = 112), and Revista Clínica Española (n = 40). The foreign journal which published the most articles was Drug and Alcohol Dependence (n = 11). Twenty-nine articles were published in 7 of the journals with greatest impact factor in this area.

These results confirm the tendency observed in other studies and indicate the increase in the quantity and quality of the Spanish publications on drug dependence.