A Case Study of a Network Analysis of Drug Use and Emergency Department Visits in St. Louis: Supporting a Quicker Rehabilitation

Substance abuse is a long-standing problem, particularly in the St. Louis, Missouri area. Recently, 350,000 individuals reported using illicit drugs with more than half living with a substance abuse disorder in the St. Louis Metropolitan area. Among the illicit drugs, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine and LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) are considered the most prevalent, with heroin/opioids being particularly linked to increased rates of death, violence, and arrests. Because drug prevalence and popularity change over time, it is important to explore how and why the drug landscape changes and how this impacts illicit drug use. With a changing healthcare system, it will be imperative to examine the causes and risks of poly use of illicit drugs to inform prevention and treatment approaches for individuals who may end up in the emergency department (ED), which may be a first step in treatment for many. This study applies findings from a social network analysis utilizing a St. Louis subset of 1997 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) data compared to recent national emergency department statistics. By examining an example of a changing drug landscape, rehabilitation professionals can learn to best serve individuals leaving the emergency department to facilitate quicker, more efficient, rehabilitation.