ANNEX C - Supplementary Information For Specific SDMD Tables |
Tables B1.6a and B1.6b Main source
of referral
The main source of referral provides information on the main source from whom
the referral was received and gives an indication of the accessibility to services.
Table B1.7 Presenting Issue(s)
Details of the significant issues which have led the person to present to the
service for their drug misuse problem.
Table B1.8 Seeking Prescription
Since April 2001, the Database collects information on whether individuals are
seeking a prescription. This includes those individuals who are attending the
service with a view to obtaining a prescription regardless of whether the service
can actually prescribe.
Tables B1.9 to B1.13 Illicit Drug Profile
The Database collects a range of details about the particular drugs which the
patients/clients have used in the past month.
The previous data collection forms (SMR22 and SMR23, used prior to April 2001) included one drug profile question which gathered information on all drugs used. This included illicit drugs as well as drugs which had been prescribed for the individual's own use. In order to make a clearer distinction between illicit use and an individual's prescription, form SMR24 was designed to include two drug profile questions i.e. one collecting data on the illicit drug profile in the past month (see definition below), the other collecting data on the individual's current prescription.
This section presents information from the
illicit drug profile.
| Illicit drug profile The illicit drug profile collects information on: - any illegal drug - over the counter medicines used inappropriately - volatile substances use inappropriately - use of a prescribed drug which has been prescribed for someone else's use - alcohol, when its use is identified as an issue of concern |
Table B1.11 collects information on the main drug.
| Main drug The drug which causes the patient/client the most problems at the time of contact. This may not be the drug used most frequently or in the largest quantities. |
Since April 2001, alcohol can be recorded as the main drug but only if there are other drugs recorded within the illicit drug profile, or a prescribed drug relating to the individual's previous illicit drug use is recorded within the prescription profile.
As a result of changes to the collection of
drug profile data, as discussed above, ISD have had to develop data "migration
rules" in order to include the historic drug profile information on the
new SMR24 Database (introduced April 2001).
| Migration rules - all illicit drugs e.g. heroin, cocaine, ecstasy etc. have been migrated on to the SMR24 database - all other drugs i.e. those which can be prescribed, have been migrated on to the new database only if it had been recorded that all (or part) of the drug had been taken illicitly. If there was no indication as to whether this was the case then it could not be assumed that the drug had been taken illicitly and therefore could not be included on the new illicit drug profile. |
For this reason data presented for the years 1998/99 - 2000/01 for drugs which can be prescribed will be an underestimate of the true figure.
Tables B1.14 to B1.19 Age Profiles
The Database collects information on the age of the individual at different
points of their drug use: age when first used an illicit drug, age at onset
of problem and age when (professional) help was sought. The time lags between
these ages provides an indication of the length of time between first use, onset
of problem and seeking help.
Tables B1.20 to B1.33 Routes of Use and
Sharing Behaviour
Due to the important health implications, information on injecting and sharing
behaviour is collected by the Database. All patients/clients are asked whether
they have ever injected and if so, whether they have done so in the past month
prior to attending the service. Similar questions are asked regarding sharing
needles/syringes and sharing spoons/water/filters/solutions. Prior to April
2001, less specific information was collected on `sharing injecting equipment'.
Trends in sharing `injecting equipment' / 'needles/syringes'
It is thought that prior to April 2001, the responses to the sharing 'injecting
equipment' question had generally been interpreted wrongly as equivalent to
sharing needles/syringes. The trend tables B1.29
and B1.30 present information on sharing injecting
equipment for years 1998/99 to 2000/01 and sharing needles/syringes for 2001/02
to 2002/03. Caution is however recommended when comparing data for 2001/02 and
2002/03 with previous years as it is not possible to verify that the interpretation
of questions was equivalent in every case.
Table B1.34 Injection sites
This provides information on the risk practices associated with current injectors.
Tables B1.34 to B1.41 Social Information
The personal circumstances of the drug user seeking
treatment or advice from services can influence the individual's motivation
for seeking help and the extent to which the service can contribute to a change
in drug taking behaviour. Information on employment status, current living arrangements
and accommodation and the individual's current legal status are each potentially
relevant factors and are collected by the Database.
Table B1.42 Forms Received
All other tables present information on new individual patients/clients. It
is, however, possible that many of these individuals may have entered more than
one service and could therefore be included several times on the Database. This
section presents information on all attendances reported by contributing services
i.e. all valid forms received.