People diagnosed with substance use disorder (SUD) might represent a high-risk subpopulation for New Psychoactive Drugs (NPS) consumption, and hair analysis offers a unique perspective to assess drug prevalence in this population. The present study aims to assess the prevalence of NPS and their co-consumption with traditional drugs of abuse (DoA) in individuals diagnosed with SUD. Hair samples from patients under care at the addiction treatment service of Bologna, Italy, for a diagnosed SUD, were collected during 2023 and analyzed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS), using a previously validated method. Among the 88 patients included, 95.5% tested positive for at least one substance, of which 88.1% for traditional DoA only, and 11.9% for NPS in addition to DoA. Among the positive samples, patients were found positive for more than two drugs in 67.9% of cases. The combination of DoA and NPS was more frequent in the younger age group (<21–30 years old, compared to 31–70, p = 0.025). Ketamine was detected in 8.0% of all samples, with mean hair levels 49.68 pg/mg (ranging 8.55–81.90 pg/mg) and was frequently accompanied by cocaine (85.7% of cases). Fentanyl was detected in 3.4% of all samples, while, among NPS, buphedrone was the only one detected. Our retrospective study highlights that the consumption of NPS is relatively low compared to other vulnerable or high-risk populations. However, the prevalence of polydrug consumption and the high rate of ketamine–cocaine combination warrant careful monitoring even in this population.
Giorgetti, A., Mohamed, S., Pirani, F., Barone, R., Grech, M., Fais, P., et al. (2024). Prevalence of new psychoactive substances and drugs of abuse in the hair of individuals diagnosed with substance use disorder: Polydrug and emerging pattern of consumption. JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, early view, 1-10 [10.1111/1556-4029.15683].
Prevalence of new psychoactive substances and drugs of abuse in the hair of individuals diagnosed with substance use disorder: Polydrug and emerging pattern of consumption
Giorgetti, Arianna;Mohamed, Susan;Pirani, Filippo;Barone, Rossella;Fais, Paolo;Pascali, Jennifer Paola;Pelletti, Guido
2024
Abstract
People diagnosed with substance use disorder (SUD) might represent a high-risk subpopulation for New Psychoactive Drugs (NPS) consumption, and hair analysis offers a unique perspective to assess drug prevalence in this population. The present study aims to assess the prevalence of NPS and their co-consumption with traditional drugs of abuse (DoA) in individuals diagnosed with SUD. Hair samples from patients under care at the addiction treatment service of Bologna, Italy, for a diagnosed SUD, were collected during 2023 and analyzed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS), using a previously validated method. Among the 88 patients included, 95.5% tested positive for at least one substance, of which 88.1% for traditional DoA only, and 11.9% for NPS in addition to DoA. Among the positive samples, patients were found positive for more than two drugs in 67.9% of cases. The combination of DoA and NPS was more frequent in the younger age group (<21–30 years old, compared to 31–70, p = 0.025). Ketamine was detected in 8.0% of all samples, with mean hair levels 49.68 pg/mg (ranging 8.55–81.90 pg/mg) and was frequently accompanied by cocaine (85.7% of cases). Fentanyl was detected in 3.4% of all samples, while, among NPS, buphedrone was the only one detected. Our retrospective study highlights that the consumption of NPS is relatively low compared to other vulnerable or high-risk populations. However, the prevalence of polydrug consumption and the high rate of ketamine–cocaine combination warrant careful monitoring even in this population.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.