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Sex Differences in Patterns of Drug Taking Behaviour

A Study at a London Community Drug Team

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Michael Gossop ,
Paul Griffiths  and
John Strang
Michael Gossop*
Affiliation:
Community Drug Team, The Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
Paul Griffiths
Affiliation:
Community Drug Team, The Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
John Strang
Affiliation:
Community Drug Team, The Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

This study investigates sex differences in patterns of drug taking and related injecting and sexual behaviour among 355 patients attending a London community drug team. The majority of cases attending the service presented with heroin problems. Men were more likely to use heroin by injection and women were more likely to use heroin by inhaling/smoking (‘chasing the dragon’); there was no sex difference in the overall incidence of needle sharing. The delay between first use of the problem drug and first presentation to services was the same for both men and women. Women were more likely to have a sexual partner who was a drug user and to be living with another user than men. This closer social attachment to other drug users was seen as presenting a high risk factor for women with regard to prognosis and treatment.

Type
Short Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 164 , Issue 1 , January 1994 , pp. 101 - 104
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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