[Approximation to the prevalence of heroin users in Navarre in 1990]

Intensive multi-agency case finding is a methodology developed to make an estimation of the number and sociodemographic characteristics of known heroin users in a given community. It basically consists of collecting information from services and/or sanitary, social and penal institutions which in the course of their activities contact, or are contacted by persons who are described as heroin users. With the aim of estimating the magnitude of heroin use in Navarra, information about heroin users was requested from public treatment centers for drug-dependences, therapeutic communities, psychiatric emergencies, general hospitals, hepatitis case registry, HIV+ case registry, prisons, forensic and various social services. The study covered the whole Autonomous Community (512,512 residents) during the year of 1990. Overall 1231 persons were counted as heroin users representing a prevalence rate of 2.4 cases/1000 residents. They were mainly male (3 to 1), and a 72% of cases were aged between 20 and 29. The demographic distribution was mainly urban (3.4 to 1) and there were large differences among the different urban zones.