Determining the Cause of Death Among Drug Addicts in Residential Rehab Campuses in Tehran

Determining the cause of death among drug addicts in Residential Rehab Campuses (RRCs) is of paramount importance, since it may prevent and reduce morbidity and mortality rates. Therefore, the present study was done to investigate the cause of death among drug addicts in RRCs in Kahrizak Dissection Hall, Tehran Province, Iran, from September 2011 to September 2019.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, a total number of 166 drug addicts, who had died in the RRCs located in Tehran, Iran were examined, and the findings were analyzed using the SPSS v. 26. Moreover, the Chi-square test was utilized to compare the results.

In this study, the most important causes of death, were infections, drug side effects, Myocardial Infarction (MI), and drowning, respectively. The highest frequency of death had occurred in the 31-40-year-old age group and was mostly observed in unmarried individuals. The most common causes of death were infection among the single and divorced ones and were MI for married cases. Toxicological results were generally negative in 60.84% of the cases. Also, 86.74% of the cases were non-pathological with regard to the brain tissue samples and 65.66% of the individuals had no pathological cardiac lesions. Besides, the most common microscopic findings of the lungs were associated with pulmonary edema. In the trauma group and also drug side effects and drowning groups, the most frequent pathological findings were pulmonary hemorrhage and pulmonary edema, respectively. As a whole, 69.87% of the deaths had occurred in the RRCs and 55.42% of them were assumed natural in terms of mode of occurrence.

The majority of the deaths in the RRCs should not have occurred if the given centers were authorized and the illegal centers were closed. Moreover, these centers should have proper management with the presence of resident physicians and trained medical staff as well as necessary medical equipment, proper nutrition, no access to drugs and other illicit substances, along with adherence to hygienic principles to minimize mortality rates among the drug addicts living in the RRCs.