Methamphetamine in the Emergency Department

Methamphetamine skyrocketed in popularity during the 1990s, when at-home labs churned the drug out across the country. Through various law changes and programs, the use of methamphetamine has slowed. For instance, the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 limited the amount of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine that could be sold over the counter, slowing the production of methamphetamine.

The Drug Abuse Warning Network is a public health surveillance system that monitors emergency department visits that involve drugs, including methamphetamine. In order for an emergency department visit to be a DAWN case, the emergency department visit must have involved a drug, either as the direct cause of the visit or as a contributing factor.

DAWN recently released a report that offers important information about the emergency department visits involving methamphetamine between 2004 and 2008.

In 2004, there were 132,576 visits (8.2 percent of all visits) to the emergency department that involved methamphetamine but by 2008 that number had been reduced to 66,308 visits (3.3 percent). The trend was consistent among both males and females, showing a significant decline between 2004 and 2008 (a decrease of 39 percent and 37 percent, respectively).

In 2008, the report showed that methamphetamine-related visits to the emergency department varied by age. 34.7 percent of the visits were made by individuals aged 25 to 34. 24.5 percent of the visits were made by individuals 35 to 44, and 23.7 percent were made by individuals 18 to 24.

Most of the visits to the emergency department that involved methamphetamine also involved other drugs or alcohol. More than a quarter involved methamphetamine and another drug, and 34.2 percent involved methamphetamine combined with two or more other drugs.

Almost a quarter of methamphetamine-related visits to the emergency department also involved alcohol or marijuana. Nearly one in five methamphetamine-related visits involved cocaine or opiates.

The majority of methamphetamine-related visits to the emergency department resulted in the patient being treated and released (60.0 percent). Almost a quarter of the emergency department visits ended in the patient being admitted to a hospital, and 15.8 percent ended in another type of discharge (e.g., patient transfers, death, or some other type of discharge).

Emergency room visits involving methamphetamine provide an opportunity for medical staff to intervene in a situation where someone is abusing methamphetamine, often along with other drugs. The patient can be warned and educated about the dangers of mixing multiple substances and assist them in obtaining treatment for drug withdrawal, if necessary.