Estimating the Prevalence of Drug Abuse in Ilam Using Capture-recapture Method

Background and Drug-addicted people are hard to reach populations. Accurate estimation of these populations is of great benefit in conducting prevention and intervention programs. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of drug abuse in Ilam, Iran. Data was collected from two sources including a hospital and Ilam Welfare Organization. Individual characteristics were collected based on existing records. Then drug abuse population and its prevalence was estimated using capture-recapture method. There were 609 people found to be addicted (237 in Ilam Welfare Organization and 372 in hospital). The size of hidden population was 5917. The prevalence of drug abuse among total population and over 15 years old were 2.77% [95% CI: (1.5-4.0) and 3.57% (95% CI: 1.9-5.2), respectively. Findings revealed that the prevalence of drug abuse was relatively high especially in people aged over 15 years old. Therefore, serious attention of authorities and policymakers of social programs are required in injury prevention.