Health of cohort of heroin addicts from London clinics: 22 year follow up: Table 1

Data are limited on the long term health consequences of drug misuse in the United Kingdom. In the United States results from longitudinal studies differ over whether heroin addicts misuse alcohol after they stop misusing opiates.1 2 We recently followed up a cohort of heroin addicts after 22 years and found that 43 (34%) of the original sample of 128 had died3; in this report we describe the health of the remainder. The original sample in 1969 was a random one in three sample of (prescribed) heroin injectors attending 13 of the 15 London drug clinics. This group was followed up in 1976-7.4 The tracing methods for the 22 year follow up, begun in 1991, have been described.3 The personal interviews were partly structured and covered prescribed and illicit drug use, …