Prevalence of drug use in French seamen.

The main objective of the present study is to determine the prevalence of lifetime use and use in the past 30 days of narcotics in French seamen and to assess factors correlated with positive urine test in seamen as a whole. A stratified survey conducted in 19 French ports collected 1,928 self-administered questionnaires on cigarette, alcohol and narcotics consumption. Seafarers were randomly selected and interviewed during their annual seafaring aptitude consultation.

Perception of epidemic's related anxiety in the general French population: a cross-sectional study in the Rhône-Alpes region.

Background: To efficiently plan appropriate public health interventions during possible epidemics, governments must take into consideration the following factors about the general population: their knowledge of epidemics, their fears of and psychological responses to them, their level of compliance with government measures and their communities' trusted sources of information. However, such surveys among the French general population are rare.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2006 in a representative sample of 600 subjects living in the Rhône-Alpes region (south-east France) to investigate self-reported knowledge about infectious diseases and anxiety generated by epidemic risk with particular reference to avian influenza.

SAM survey on "drugs and fatal accidents": search of substances consumed and comparison between drivers involved under the influence of alcohol or cannabis.

Objectives: A survey was conducted to produce reliable epidemiological data concerning the role played by alcohol and drugs in fatal road accidents in France. The aims are to describe the conduct of the survey, evaluate the overall quality of the findings, and analyze the substances consumed by the involved drivers. A comparison between drivers involved under the influence of alcohol only, cannabis only, or both substances is emphasized.

General practitioners and alcohol use disorders: quantity without quality.

Background: General medical practitioners are essential for the prevention, diagnosis, and management of alcohol use disorders. Studies to examine medical practice in this field, however, are very rare.

Method: A cross-sectional study involving 2010 patients seen by a sample of 145 general practitioners in the Auvergne region of central France was conducted on a given day in May 1998.

Hospital morbidity of alcohol use disorders in the center of France.

Background: The Auvergne region of central France has the third highest mortality rate in the country for alcohol-related disorders and the highest level of alcohol consumption among young people.

Methods: An exhaustive cross-sectional study of regional hospital morbidity related to alcohol was undertaken on a single day in May 1998, including 9,552 hospital beds. All inpatients age 16 and older in the Departments of Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Psychiatry, and Medium-Stay Services were studied.

Prevalence of drugs of abuse in urine of drivers involved in road accidents in France: a collaborative study.

The collaborative, anonymous, case-control study was intended to determine the prevalence of opiates, cocaine metabolites, cannabinoids and amphetamines in the urine of drivers injured in road accidents and to compare these values with those of non-accident subjects ("patients") in France. Recruitment was performed nationwide in the emergency departments of five hospitals and comprised 296 "drivers" aged 18 to 35 and 278 non-traumatic "patients" in the same age range. Females represented 28.

[Epidemiological aspects of drug addiction: morbidity and evaluation of care].

As regards drug addicts morbidity, no register of patients exists; several studies are conducted with complementary aims. The annual survey of the Health Ministry since 1987 registers over one month the consultants of the whole services: specialized, psychiatric, medical or non specialized social service. The Inserm network involving clinicians and epidemiologists has been running from 1987 focusing on the topic "Drug addiction and public health".

[Role of INSERM in descriptive epidemiologic studies].

The foundation of INSERM and its development over the past 30 years have led to the formation of a public body known in France as EPST. With scientific and technological interests, the general aim is to promote the advancement of science and to improve the diffusion of information among scientists, teachers or decision-makers and also the general public. Epidemiology counts among the medical disciplines which are methodologically well developed and widely used by many health sectors from clinical research to public health.

[Epidemiologic surveys in the field of drug abuse].

Among the various approaches used to study behaviours of use and abuse of drugs, epidemiology is now being called upon to direct its attention to two other approaches. Firstly, it should provide a more global view of subject groups than the specific descriptions of a few specialized centres. Secondly, it should take part in studies assessing public health policies for drug addiction.

Drug addicts and syringe sharing in France: epidemiological study 1988.

A cross-sectional study was carried out in France in March 1988 to measure the impact made on drug abusers by educational campaigns concerning HIV transmission and the lifting of restrictions on the sale of syringes. Thirty-two drug-dependence centers provided a sample of 479 subjects who, compared with 4,846 subjects enrolled in 1986, were found to differ particularly in the type of substance used. Since no observations were made before the introduction of the preventive measures, the changes cannot be attributed to these alone.

Drug addicts attending specialised institutions: towards a drug addiction data bank?

In 1986, a national survey was carried out in France among 4846 drug abusers attending specialised agencies and treatment centres. Data are analysed and compared with the results of a previous study in 1972. Most French drug abusers are men (74%) ranged in age from 20 to 29 years (68%).

[Use of psychotropic drugs and addiction: approaches to epidemiologic research].

Although the phenomenon of drug abuse in France is well delimited, it constitutes a public health problem. The way it spreads is sometimes 'epidemic' in sub-groups especially exposed. The somtic or relational consequences are short-term and it concerns more and more adolescents or young adults.

Drug abuse in France: a review of statistical data.

In France, drug abuse among the young population first appeared at the end of the sixties. Repressive and therapeutic measures were then combined and specific sanitary structures set up. The authors describe the historical and social backgrounds of this phenomenon and review the sources of relevant statistical information records of offenses against the drug law; statistics of special care centres; epidemiological studies on confirmed drug addicts.

[Presence of benzodiazepines in the serum of patients after accidents. Relation to alcoholism].

In a study of 2.021 injured persons (accidents at home or at work, road accidents), qualitative assays of serum benzodiazepines by the EMIT method were positive in 9.6 per cent of the cases, including 3.

Detection of blood benzodiazepines in injured people. Relationship with alcoholism.

In 2021 accident victims (household, work and road accidents) the qualitative test for benzodiazepines in the serum by the EMIT method was positive in 9.6% of cases, including 3.2% of subjects who also had a blood alcohol level greater than 0.