To What Extent Does Illicit Drug Use Predispose to Facial Injury? An Institutional Investigation for an Emergent Problem.

STUDY DESIGN

There are potential substantive linkages between illicit drug use and the occurrence of injury.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of our study was to determine the prevalence, class of illicit drugs abused, and demographics in relation to a cohort of patients who sustained facial injury.

METHODS

The authors undertook a retrospective observational study of a prospectively accessioned cohort of patients who had sustained a facial injury and presented to the John Hunter Hospital (Newcastle, NSW, Australia). The primary predictor variable was the presentation of a facial injury and the secondary outcome variables included illicit drug use, alcohol use, and socioeconomic factors. The study was carried out over a 12-month period. A descriptive analysis was undertaken on the assembled data.

RESULTS

Of the 465 patient medical records that were accessed for the study, 348 were male and 117 were female. Their average age was 42.6 years: 5.8% ( = 27) were under the influence of illicit drugs at the time of their presentation and 13.1% ( = 61) admitted to an intercurrent illicit drug habit. Those who were under the combined influence of alcohol and drugs comprised of 2.8% ( = 13).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study found that illicit drug use plays a small, but nonetheless, demonstrable role in the presentation of maxillofacial trauma patients to an urban level I trauma center. Illicit drug users are an emergent sociodemographic group of patients who can sustain facial trauma and their presentation needs to be appropriately considered, assessed, and managed collectively.