Data from: Characteristics of NPS use in patients admitted to acute psychiatric services in Southeast Scotland: a retrospective cross-sectional analysis following public health interventions

Objectives: Assess the impact of selective prohibition and seizure of NPS
supply on NPS use prevalence within psychiatric admissions and evaluate
demographic characteristics of current NPS users. Design: A 6-month
retrospective cross-sectional analysis of discharge letters between 1st
October 2015 – 31st March 2016. Setting: General Psychiatry inpatients and
Intensive Home Treatment Team community patients at a psychiatric hospital
in a Scottish city. Participants: All participants were between the ages
18-65. After application of exclusion criteria, 473 discharge letters of
General Psychiatry patients were deemed suitable for analysis and 264
Intensive Home Treatment Team (IHTT) patient discharge letters were
analysed. Interventions: A nationwide Temporary Class Drug Order (TCDO)
was placed on 10th April 2015 reclassifying methylphenidate-related
compounds as Class B substances. On 15th October 2015, local Forfeiture
Orders were granted to Trading Standards permitting the seizure of NPS
supplies. Primary and secondary outcome measures: The primary outcome
measure was to determine the prevalence of NPS use in two cohorts.
Secondly, demographic features of patients and details regarding their
psychiatric presentation were analysed. Results: The prevalence of NPS use
in General Psychiatry and IHTT patients was 6.6% and 3.4%, respectively.
Inpatients using NPS compared to non-users were more likely to be male
(OR: 2.92, 95% CI: 1.28-6.66, p=0.009), have a forensic history (OR: 5.03,
CI: 2.39-10.59, p<0.001) and be detained under an Emergency
Detention Certificate (OR: 3.50, CI: 1.56-7.82, p=0.004). NPS users were
also more likely to be diagnosed under ICD-10 F10-19 (OR: 9.97, CI:
4.62-21.49, p<0.001). Conclusions: Compared to previous work,
psychiatric inpatient NPS use has fallen. NPS continue to be used by a
demographic previously described resulting in presentations consistent
with a drug-induced psychosis and at times requiring detention under the
Mental Health Act. Further research is required to evaluate the
effectiveness of the recent prohibition of all NPS.