Prevalence of Problem Drug Use, Scotland

Problem Drug Use and Its Correlates

"• The estimated number of individuals with problem drug use in Scotland in 2009/10, aged 15 to 64 years old, was 59,600 (95% CI = 58,300 - 61,000). This represents an increase in estimated numbers of over 4,000 (in 2006 there were estimated to be 55,300 individuals with problem drug use (95% CI = 54,500 – 57,200)) since 2006 (Table 1 and Table 7).
"• The prevalence rate of problem drug use in Scotland in 2009/10 amongst individuals aged between 15 and 64 years was estimated to be 1.71% (95% CI = 1.67% – 1.75%). This figure was estimated to be 1.62% (95% CI 1.59% - 1.67%) in 2006 (Table 1 and Table 7). Although the estimate of problem drug use prevalence was higher in 2009/10 compared to 2006, it cannot be said conclusively that actual prevalence has increased. However, we can be reasonably sure that actual problem drug use prevalence has not declined since 2006.
"• Around 71% of individuals aged between 15 and 64 years old with problem drug use in mainland Scotland in 2009/10 were male. The estimated prevalence rate of problem drug use for males was 2.49% compared to 1.00% for females (Table 2).
"• There are apparent decreases in the estimated prevalence rate in both the 15 to 24 and 25 to 34 year old age groups (from 1.75% in 2006 to 1.63% in 2009/10 for 15 to 24 year olds and from 3.90% in 2006 to 3.60% in 2009/10 for 25 to 34 year olds. However, for the 35 to 64 years old age group the estimated prevalence rate appears to have increased from 0.89% in 2006 to 1.18% in 2009/10 (Table 8)."