Measuring exposure to cannabis use and other substance use in remote Aboriginal populations in northern Australia: evaluation of a "community epidemiology" approach using proxy respondents.
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Date
Journal Title
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Affiliation(s)
(Clough) Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin, NT, Australia
(Cairney) Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin, NT, Australia
(D'Abbs) School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
(Parker) Flinders University Clinical School, Darwin, NT, Australia
(Maruff) La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
(Gray) National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
(O'Reilly) Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, Australia
(Cairney) Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin, NT, Australia
(D'Abbs) School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
(Parker) Flinders University Clinical School, Darwin, NT, Australia
(Maruff) La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
(Gray) National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
(O'Reilly) Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, Australia
Year
2004
Citation
Addiction Research & Theory. Vol.3, 2004, pp. 261-274.
Journal
Addiction Research & Theory
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Abstract
We evaluate a method to describe changing substance use patterns in northern Australia's remote Aboriginal communities. Substance use was assessed in random samples in two communities A and B. Five Aboriginal health workers made assessments independently of each other in community A. A different group of three health workers made independent assessments in community B. Sub-samples were opportunistically recruited for interview community B. In community C, 101 people were interviewed and were also assessed by four local health workers working together. Proportional agreements among health workers for a history of substance use and current use, varied from kappa=0.207 for petrol sniffing (P=0.006) up to kappa=0.749 for cannabis use (P<0.001), all better than would be expected by chance. In communities A and B, agreement between health workers' consensus and self-reported substance use was weaker (0.103<kappa<0.482) probably because of under-reporting in interviews. In community C, where interviews were conducted in a confidential clinic setting, agreement between health workers' consensus and self-report varied from kappa=0.273 for petrol sniffing (P<0.001) up to 0.819 for tobacco use (P<0.001). Aboriginal health worker consensus classification clarified equivocal self-report data. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
PubMed ID
Type
Article
Study type
Qualitative study
Subjects
Substance use
Rural and remote health
Rural and remote health