Illicit drug use research in Latin America: epidemiology service use, and HIV.

The purpose of this article is to review the research status of illicit drug use and its data sources in Latin America, with particular attention to the research that has been produced in the past 15 years in epidemiology of illicit drug use services utilization, and relationship between HIV and drug use. This article complements the series of articles that are published in this same volume which examine drug abuse research (epidemiology, prevention, and treatment) and HIV prevention in Latinos residing in the United States. This review resulted from extensive international and national searches using the following databases: Current Contents Connect, Social and Behavioral Sciences; EBSCO; EMBASE(R) Psychiatry; Evidence Based Medicine (through OVID); Medline, Neurosciences, PsychINFO, Pubmed, BIREME/PAHO/WHO--Virtual Health Library, and SciELO.

Prevalence and correlates of drug use disorders in Mexico.

Objective: To describe the prevalence of drug use disorders, the correlates of drug use, and the utilization of specialized treatment services for drug users among the Mexican urban population 18-65 years old.

Methods: The data were collected in 2001 and 2002 in the Mexican National Comorbidity Survey. The sample design was stratified probabilistically for six geographical areas of the country in a multistage process for census count areas, city blocks, groups of households, and individuals.

Prevention of substance abuse: a brief overview.

Recent advances in psychosocial research and neurosciences have provided new avenues for prevention of substance abuse at the individual and community level. A series of risk and protective factors affecting the likelihood of using and abusing substances have been identified. The scope of prevention has been broadened, allowing the prescription of different interventions for individuals according to their varying degrees of vulnerability to substance experimentation, continuous use and dependence.

[Prevalence and diagnosis of depression in Mexico].

Objective: To present the prevalence of depressive episodes, as well as the percentage of the population with medical diagnosis.

Material And Methods: The definition of depression was based on a schedule with DSM IV diagnostic criteria. Using data from the 2002-2003 National Assessment Performance Survey, the prevalence of depression was estimated at the national level, by sex, age, education, size of residence community, and state.

Attitudes to women and their mental health in Mexico.

In Mexico, there are two females with depression for each male (Medina-Mora , 2003) and the rate among poor females is three times higher than that among those with the highest income (Berenzon , 1998). Most research findings suggest that depression cannot solely be explained by a simple biological theory but that sociocultural variables also play a major role. These include the different degree of control and power that women and men have over socio-economic determinants and the differences in social position, status and gender role expectations.

A case-control study of alcohol and substance use disorders as risk factors for non-fatal injury.

Aims: While alcohol use is thought to be a major risk factor for both fatal and non-fatal injuries, the association of substance use disorders (alcohol use disorders, AUD and substance use disorders, SUD) with occurrence of injury has not received the same attention. To report the association of AUD and SUD, according to diagnostic and statistics manual of mental disorders-IV (DSM-IV) and international classification of diseases 10 (ICD-10) criteria, and the risk of non-fatal injuries.

Methods: A case-control study: Cases included 653 injured patients, 18-65-years-old, who attended one emergency department (ED).

Paternal absence and international migration: stressors and compensators associated with the mental health of Mexican teenagers of rural origin.

Mexico-U.S. migration creates situations that may cause psychological distress.

[The role of epidemiology in mental disorder research].

Mental disorders, including substance abuse, are part of the Mexican epidemiologic scenario and will remain so during several decades. They may even become more prominent as causes of disease, disability, and death in our country. It is thus imperative to frame appropriate management strategies to curb these problems without delay.

Prevalence, severity, and unmet need for treatment of mental disorders in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys.

Context: Little is known about the extent or severity of untreated mental disorders, especially in less-developed countries.

Objective: To estimate prevalence, severity, and treatment of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) mental disorders in 14 countries (6 less developed, 8 developed) in the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Face-to-face household surveys of 60 463 community adults conducted from 2001-2003 in 14 countries in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

[Patterns of heroin consumption in a jail on the northern Mexican border: barriers to treatment access].

Objective: To assess the prevalence of heroin use, patterns of initiation, intense use, and drug-dependency; also, to assess barriers to drug treatment access.

Material And Methods: The study was conducted in the Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua prison. Subjects were selected using simple random sampling from census of prison inmates.