Aim To study drug-induced mortality and characteristics
of overdose deaths in the war (1991-1995), pre-war (1986-
1990), and post-war period (1996-2000) in Split-Dalmatia
County.
Methods We retrospectively searched through Databases
of the Department of Forensic Medicine, University Hospital
Split, the national register of death records, the archives
of the Split-Dalmatia County Police, and the Register of
Treated Drug Addicts of the Croatian National Institute of
Public Health, covering the period from 1986 to 2000, according
to drug poisoning codes IX and X of the International
Classification of Diseases. The indicators were statistically
analyzed.
Results There were 146 registered drug-induced deaths,
with 136 (93%) deceased being men. The median age of
all cases was 27 years (interquartile range 8). Most of them
were single (70.6%), unemployed (44.6%), and secondary
school graduates (69.2%). In the war period, there were 4.8
times more deaths than in the pre-war period (P=0.014),
and in the post-war period there were 5.2 times more
deaths than in the pre-war period (P=0.008). The most
common site of death was the deceased person’s home.
The toxicological analyses showed that 59 (61%) deaths
were heroin related, alcohol use was found in 62 cases
(42.5%), and multi-substance use was found in more than
a half of the cases. In 133 (91.1%) cases, deaths were classified
as unintentional, whereas 13 (8.9%) were classified
as suicides.
Conclusion The war, along with other risk factors, contributed
to unfavorable developments related to drug abuse
in Split-Dalmatia County, including the increase in the
drug-induced mortality rate