ABSTRACT
Drug abuse has been known as a growing contributing factor to all types of trauma in the world. The goal of this article is to provide insight into demographic and substance use factors associated with trauma and to determine the prevalence of drug abuse in trauma patients. Evidence of substance abuse was assessed in trauma patients presenting to Sina trauma hospital over a 3-month period. They were interviewed and provided urine samples to detect the presence of drug/metabolites of opium, morphine, cannabis and heroin by 'Morphine Check' kits. Demographic data, mechanisms of injury, history of smoking and drug abuse were recorded. A total of 358 patients with a mean age of 28.4 years were studied. The Patients were predominantly male [94.7%]. There was a history of smoking in 136 cases [38%]. 58 cases [16.2%] reported to abuse drugs [91.5% opium]. The commonest route of administration was smoke inhalation [37.2%]. Screening by Morphine Check test revealed 95 samples to be positive [26.5%]. The preponderance of test-positive cases was among young people [of 20-30 years of age] with a history of smoking. Victims of violence and those with penetrating injuries also showed a higher percentage of positive screens [P=0.038 and P<0.001, respectively]. These results suggest that drug abuse is a contributing factor to trauma especially in violent injuries and among the young. Regarding the considerable prevalence of drug abuse among trauma patients, it's highly recommended that all trauma patients be screened for illicit drugs