Although there is widespread perception that the burden of alcohol and drugs abuse
is relatively common around the world [
[1]
], no recent epidemiologic information has been published in support of this assumption
to the best of our knowledge. Therefore, in this concise report we present an update
on worldwide epidemiology of alcohol and drug abuse disorders, based on official data
of the World Health Organization (WHO) [
[2]
]. Information from the last update (year 2016) of the WHO database on burden of diseases,
expressed as cause-specific disability-adjusted life year (DALYs) or mortality, is
hence summarized in Table 1, along with the corresponding figures for the year 2000.
World Health Organization. Global Health Estimates 2016: Disease burden by Cause, Age, Sex, by Country and by Region, 2000-2016. Geneva. 2018. Available from: https://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/estimates/en/index1.html. LastAccessed: 12 July 2019.
Table 1Current epidemiology of alcohol and drug abuse disorders.
| Condition | YEAR 2016 | YEAR 2000 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DALYs | Deaths | DALYs | Deaths | |||||||
| Number | % of total | Variation from 2000 | Number | % of total | Variation from 2000 | Number | % of total | Number | % of total | |
| Alcohol abuse disorders | 18.45 | 0.69% | +8.1% | 145.57 | 0.26% | -2.2% | 17.07 | 0.61% | 148.80 | 0.28% |
| Drug abuse disorders | 21.89 | 0.82% | +26.7% | 160.24 | 0.28% | 47.4% | 17.27 | 0.61% | 108.72 | 0.21% |
| - Opioid | 16.64 | 0.62% | +26.9% | 118.62 | 0.21% | 43.3% | 13.11 | 0.47% | 82.78 | 0.16% |
| - Cocaine | 1.24 | 0.05% | +37.2% | 9.43 | 0.02% | 83.9% | 0.90 | 0.03% | 5.13 | 0.01% |
| - Amphetamine | 1.00 | 0.04% | +36.2% | 7.10 | 0.01% | 160.1% | 0.73 | 0.03% | 2.73 | 0.01% |
| - Cannabis | 0.65 | 0.02% | +10.0% | <0.01 | 0% | – | 0.59 | 0.02% | <0.01 | 0% |
| - Other drugs | 2.37 | 0.09% | +22.5% | 25.08 | 0.04% | 38.8% | 1.93 | 0.07% | 18.07 | 0.03% |
† Millions
Keywords
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References
- Nonmedical Use of Prescription Drugs among Medical Students and the Relationship With Illicit Drug, Tobacco, and Alcohol Use.Subst Abuse. 2018; 12 (1178221818802298)
World Health Organization. Global Health Estimates 2016: Disease burden by Cause, Age, Sex, by Country and by Region, 2000-2016. Geneva. 2018. Available from: https://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/estimates/en/index1.html. LastAccessed: 12 July 2019.
World Health Organization. Projections of mortality and causes of death, 2016 to 2060. Available from: https://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/projections/en/. LastAccessed: 12 July 2019.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 31, 2019
Accepted:
October 10,
2019
Received:
September 15,
2019
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
