Development of materials on ecstasy and related drugs (ERDs) for primary health care practitioners
NDARC Staff
Jan Copeland, Paul Dillon and Edmund Silins
Other Investigators
Iain McGregor (University of Sydney); David Caldicott (Royal Adelaide Hospital); Robert Ali (DASSA); and Ann Roche (NCETA)
Rationale
The use of a range of pharmaceuticals and supplements, in a variety of combinations, for contradictory purposes suggests there is a need for harm reduction information on the risks associated with this practice. Particular attention should be placed on informing ERDs users of the potentially fatal serotonin syndrome which is more likely to develop from combining ecstasy and other serotonergic drugs with antidepressants.
Aims
- examine the relationship between ERDs and antidepressant use, including patterns and harms of current use
- examine the sources of pharmaceuticals among ERDs users
- examine the role of GPs in the prescription of antidepressants to ERDs users
- identify gaps in knowledge about ERDs and their side effects among GPs
- examine the management of young people presenting to GPs for antidepressants, including screening for ERDs use
- examine the management of ERDs-related presentations to Accident and Emergency Rooms of major Australian hospitals
- inform key personnel at Accident and Emergency Rooms of major Australian hospitals on the findings of current ERDs-related research
- inform the development of information materials on ERDs-related issues
Design and Method
Questionnaires were distributed to 2000 GPs stratified to include metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas across Australia; presentations were delivered to frontline healthcare professionals at 12 hospitals in 8 major centres around Australia and attending healthcare professionals completed a questionnaire; in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 ERDs users who had recently combined ecstasy and antidepressant drugs.
Benefits
Output
Silins, E., Bleeker, A., Dillon, P., Copeland, J. (2006). Got SS? National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre; University of NSW: Sydney.
Silins, E., Copeland, J. and Dillon, P. (2007) Qualitative review of serotonin syndrome, ecstasy (MDMA) and the use of other serotonergic substances: hierarchy of risk. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 41, 649-655.
Presentations to arise from this research projects are as follows:
Silins, E. (2006). Ecstasy, pharmaceutical drugs and serotonin syndrome. Paper presented at the NDARC Annual Symposium, Sydney, Australia, 20 July.
Silins, E. (2006). Ecstasy and the concomitant use of pharmaceuticals and supplements: implications for intervention. Paper presented at the Australian Professional Society for Alcohol and Other Drugs (APSAD), Cairns, Australia, 8 November.
Silins, E. (2007). Ecstasy (MDMA), antidepressants and serotonin syndrome: implications for intervention in general medical practice. Poster presented at The College of Problems on Drug Dependence (CPDD), Quebec City, Canada. 18 June.
Funding
Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing