Hardt Nancy, Wong Tit D, Burt Martha J, Harrison Ross, Winter Will, Roth Jeffrey
Departments of Pathology and Obstetrics/Gynecology, University of Florida, Box 100275, Gainesville, FL 32610.
J Forensic Sci. 2013 Nov;58(6):1536-41. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.12219. Epub 2013 Jul 23.
Abuse of prescription and illicit drugs has been rapidly increasing. This study examines the prevalence of drug use in the non-natural deaths of pregnant or recently pregnant women. Records from Florida's Pregnancy Associated Mortality Review conducted between 1999 and 2005 (n = 415) were linked to 385 toxicology reports obtained from Florida medical examiners' offices. The final study sample consisted of 169 drug-positive, pregnancy-associated non-natural deaths. Of these, 86 were positive for both blood and urine, 64 were positive for blood only and five for urine only, and the remainder were positive for some other specimen. Among these deaths, 91 cases (54%) involved prescription drugs, 78 cases (46%) involved illicit drugs, and 69 cases (41%) involved alcohol. Opioids constituted the majority of deaths associated with prescription drugs. Substantial co-use of opioids and benzodiazepines was seen. Pregnant or recently pregnant women may have more interactions with healthcare providers, which may present more opportunities for intervention and prevention.
处方药和非法药物的滥用现象一直在迅速增加。本研究调查了怀孕或近期怀孕妇女非自然死亡中的药物使用情况。将1999年至2005年间佛罗里达州进行的妊娠相关死亡审查记录（n = 415）与从佛罗里达州法医办公室获得的385份毒理学报告相关联。最终研究样本包括169例药物检测呈阳性的妊娠相关非自然死亡病例。其中，86例血液和尿液检测均呈阳性，64例仅血液检测呈阳性，5例仅尿液检测呈阳性，其余病例其他样本检测呈阳性。在这些死亡病例中，91例（54%）涉及处方药，78例（46%）涉及非法药物，69例（41%）涉及酒精。阿片类药物构成了与处方药相关死亡的大多数。观察到阿片类药物和苯二氮䓬类药物大量共同使用。怀孕或近期怀孕的妇女可能与医疗保健提供者有更多互动，这可能带来更多干预和预防的机会。
