Acceso usuarios
Michael Stauffacher
Data collected in drug treatment agencies have played a prominent role in informing policy makers. Such data often represent the only information collected regularly and consistently over a certain period of time. The first treatment reporting systems were introduced in countries in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In Europe, the 1990s was the most important period in terms of the standardization and widespread implementation of such reporting systems.
In the present article, the advantages and limitations of treatment reporting systems are discussed; the shortfalls of certain methodological approaches are also described. Despite its limitations, the treatment reporting system is a simple but powerful instrument for tracking the changing patterns of problematic drug use and, as such, is a valuable epidemiological tool.
As data need to be adequately exploited, a concrete four-step model is presented that analyses data with the aim of building incrementally upon the expanding knowledge base that exists with regard to drug use behaviour. Good knowledge of the local drug situation is essential to the sound interpretation of results.
The conclusion reached is that treatment data need to be supplemented by additional information from other indicators and from qualitative studies in order for that data to contribute to the still developing theory of trends in drug use behaviour.
