Annex A1.1 Supplementary information for specific SDMD tables
Table A1.7 Source of referral
The 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 A1.8 and A1.9 Presenting issue(s)
Details of the significant issues which have led the person to present to the service for their drug misuse problem.
Table A1.10 Seeking prescription
The SDMD 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 A1.11 to A1.16 Illicit drug profile and A1.17 to A1.18 Prescribed drug profile
The SDMD 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, the other collecting data on the individual’s current prescription (see definitions below).
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
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Table A1.13 collects information on the main illicit drug.
Main illicit 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. |
Prescribed drug profile
The prescribed drug profile collects information on any drug relating to drug misuse which is currently being prescribed, including:
- Drugs prescribed as substitution for opioids
- Drugs prescribed to alleviate the symptoms of withdrawal
- Drugs prescribed for relapse prevention
- Anti-depressants and anti-psychotics which are prescribed for the symptomatic treatment of drug misuse or dependence
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Table A1.18 collects information on the main prescribed drug.
Main prescribed drug
The prescription drug relating to the treatment of the main illicit drug. This may not be the drug used most frequently or in the largest quantities. |
Since April 2001, alcohol can be recorded as the main illicit 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.
Tables A1.19 to A1.24 Age profiles
The SDMD 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 A1.25 to A1.38 Routes of use and sharing behaviour
Due to the important health implications, information on injecting and sharing behaviour is collected by the SDMD. 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’. 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. However caution is recommended when comparing data for 2001/02 to 2005/06 with data previously published for earlier years as it is not possible to verify that the interpretation of questions was equivalent in every case.
Table A1.39 Injection sites
This provides information on the risk practices associated with current injectors.
Tables A1.40 to A1.46 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 SDMD.
Table A1.47 SMR24 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 SDMD. This section presents information on all attendances reported by contributing services i.e. all valid forms received.
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