Blood lead levels in asymptomatic opium addict patients: a case control study

Kazem Ghaemi; Atefeh Ghoreishi; Navid Rabiee; Samira Alinejad; Esmaeil Farzaneh; Alireza Amirabadi Zadeh; Mohammad Abdollahi; Omid Mehrpour

doi:10.22037/aaem.v5i1.194

Blood lead levels in asymptomatic opium addict patients: a case control study

Kazem Ghaemi, Atefeh Ghoreishi, Navid Rabiee, Samira Alinejad, Esmaeil Farzaneh, Alireza Amirabadi Zadeh, Mohammad Abdollahi, Omid Mehrpour^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Introduction: One of the newest non-occupational sources of lead contamination is drug addiction, which has recently been addressed as a major source of lead poisoning in some countries. The present study aimed to investigate the blood lead level (BLL) of asymptomatic opium addicts.

Methods: This case-control study was conducted during a one-year period to compare BLL of three groups consisting of opium addicts, patients under methadone maintenance therapy (MMT), and healthy individuals.

Results: 99 participants with the mean age of 55.43±12.83 years were studied in three groups of 33 cases (53.5% male). The mean lead level in opium addicts, MMT and control groups were 80.30 ± 6.03 μg/L, 67.94 ± 4.42 μg/L, and 57.30±4.77 μg/L, respectively (p=0.008). There was no significant difference in BLL betweenMMT and healthy individuals (p=0.433) and also between opiumaddicts andMMT individuals (p=0.271). Oral opiumabusers had significantly higher lead levels (p = 0.036). There was a significant correlation between BLL and duration of drug abuse in opium addict cases (r=0.398, p=0.022). The odds ratio of having BLL ≥ 100 in oral opium users was 2.1 (95% CI: 0.92-4.61; p = 0.43).

Conclusion: Based on the result of present study, when compared to healthy individuals, opium addicts, especially those who took substance orally had significantly higher levels of blood lead, and their odds of having BLL ≥ 100 was two times. Therefore, screening for BLL in opium addicts, particularly those with non-specific complaints, could be useful.

Original language	English
Article number	e69
Number of pages	5
Journal	Archives of Academic Emergency Medicine
Volume	5
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.22037/aaem.v5i1.194
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2017
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

Case-control studies
Heroin
Lead
Methadone
Opium
Substance abuse treatment centers

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10.22037/aaem.v5i1.194Licence: CC BY

Publisher version (open access)Final published version, 213 KBLicence: CC BY

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title = "Blood lead levels in asymptomatic opium addict patients: a case control study",

abstract = "Introduction: One of the newest non-occupational sources of lead contamination is drug addiction, which has recently been addressed as a major source of lead poisoning in some countries. The present study aimed to investigate the blood lead level (BLL) of asymptomatic opium addicts.Methods: This case-control study was conducted during a one-year period to compare BLL of three groups consisting of opium addicts, patients under methadone maintenance therapy (MMT), and healthy individuals.Results: 99 participants with the mean age of 55.43±12.83 years were studied in three groups of 33 cases (53.5% male). The mean lead level in opium addicts, MMT and control groups were 80.30 ± 6.03 μg/L, 67.94 ± 4.42 μg/L, and 57.30±4.77 μg/L, respectively (p=0.008). There was no significant difference in BLL betweenMMT and healthy individuals (p=0.433) and also between opiumaddicts andMMT individuals (p=0.271). Oral opiumabusers had significantly higher lead levels (p = 0.036). There was a significant correlation between BLL and duration of drug abuse in opium addict cases (r=0.398, p=0.022). The odds ratio of having BLL ≥ 100 in oral opium users was 2.1 (95% CI: 0.92-4.61; p = 0.43).Conclusion: Based on the result of present study, when compared to healthy individuals, opium addicts, especially those who took substance orally had significantly higher levels of blood lead, and their odds of having BLL ≥ 100 was two times. Therefore, screening for BLL in opium addicts, particularly those with non-specific complaints, could be useful.",

keywords = "Case-control studies, Heroin, Lead, Methadone, Opium, Substance abuse treatment centers",

author = "Kazem Ghaemi and Atefeh Ghoreishi and Navid Rabiee and Samira Alinejad and Esmaeil Farzaneh and Zadeh, {Alireza Amirabadi} and Mohammad Abdollahi and Omid Mehrpour",

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Blood lead levels in asymptomatic opium addict patients : a case control study. / Ghaemi, Kazem; Ghoreishi, Atefeh; Rabiee, Navid; Alinejad, Samira; Farzaneh, Esmaeil; Zadeh, Alireza Amirabadi; Abdollahi, Mohammad; Mehrpour, Omid.

In: Archives of Academic Emergency Medicine, Vol. 5, No. 1, e69, 01.01.2017.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Blood lead levels in asymptomatic opium addict patients

T2 - a case control study

AU - Ghaemi, Kazem

AU - Ghoreishi, Atefeh

AU - Rabiee, Navid

AU - Alinejad, Samira

AU - Farzaneh, Esmaeil

AU - Zadeh, Alireza Amirabadi

AU - Abdollahi, Mohammad

AU - Mehrpour, Omid

N1 - Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

PY - 2017/1/1

Y1 - 2017/1/1

N2 - Introduction: One of the newest non-occupational sources of lead contamination is drug addiction, which has recently been addressed as a major source of lead poisoning in some countries. The present study aimed to investigate the blood lead level (BLL) of asymptomatic opium addicts.Methods: This case-control study was conducted during a one-year period to compare BLL of three groups consisting of opium addicts, patients under methadone maintenance therapy (MMT), and healthy individuals.Results: 99 participants with the mean age of 55.43±12.83 years were studied in three groups of 33 cases (53.5% male). The mean lead level in opium addicts, MMT and control groups were 80.30 ± 6.03 μg/L, 67.94 ± 4.42 μg/L, and 57.30±4.77 μg/L, respectively (p=0.008). There was no significant difference in BLL betweenMMT and healthy individuals (p=0.433) and also between opiumaddicts andMMT individuals (p=0.271). Oral opiumabusers had significantly higher lead levels (p = 0.036). There was a significant correlation between BLL and duration of drug abuse in opium addict cases (r=0.398, p=0.022). The odds ratio of having BLL ≥ 100 in oral opium users was 2.1 (95% CI: 0.92-4.61; p = 0.43).Conclusion: Based on the result of present study, when compared to healthy individuals, opium addicts, especially those who took substance orally had significantly higher levels of blood lead, and their odds of having BLL ≥ 100 was two times. Therefore, screening for BLL in opium addicts, particularly those with non-specific complaints, could be useful.

AB - Introduction: One of the newest non-occupational sources of lead contamination is drug addiction, which has recently been addressed as a major source of lead poisoning in some countries. The present study aimed to investigate the blood lead level (BLL) of asymptomatic opium addicts.Methods: This case-control study was conducted during a one-year period to compare BLL of three groups consisting of opium addicts, patients under methadone maintenance therapy (MMT), and healthy individuals.Results: 99 participants with the mean age of 55.43±12.83 years were studied in three groups of 33 cases (53.5% male). The mean lead level in opium addicts, MMT and control groups were 80.30 ± 6.03 μg/L, 67.94 ± 4.42 μg/L, and 57.30±4.77 μg/L, respectively (p=0.008). There was no significant difference in BLL betweenMMT and healthy individuals (p=0.433) and also between opiumaddicts andMMT individuals (p=0.271). Oral opiumabusers had significantly higher lead levels (p = 0.036). There was a significant correlation between BLL and duration of drug abuse in opium addict cases (r=0.398, p=0.022). The odds ratio of having BLL ≥ 100 in oral opium users was 2.1 (95% CI: 0.92-4.61; p = 0.43).Conclusion: Based on the result of present study, when compared to healthy individuals, opium addicts, especially those who took substance orally had significantly higher levels of blood lead, and their odds of having BLL ≥ 100 was two times. Therefore, screening for BLL in opium addicts, particularly those with non-specific complaints, could be useful.

KW - Case-control studies

KW - Heroin

KW - Lead

KW - Methadone

KW - Opium

KW - Substance abuse treatment centers

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DO - 10.22037/aaem.v5i1.194

M3 - Article

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JF - Archives of Academic Emergency Medicine

SN - 2645-4904

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Blood lead levels in asymptomatic opium addict patients: a case control study

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