Background: Medical care in the emergency department (ED) is a growing and complex area of outpatient care, with about 256 visits made to EDs every minute in 2013. Studies report that, compared to people who do not use drugs, people who use illicit drugs are more likely to use the ED for their medical care. Self-efficacy has been shown to be a predictor of abstinence or reduced use among drug-using individuals.
Objectives: The current study describes drug avoidance self-efficacy among exclusive cannabis-using individuals and other drug-using individuals who use the ED for any reason.
Methods: Participants were 693 adult patients visiting the trauma units and EDs of two large urban "safety net" hospitals (i.e., providing care to low-income, uninsured, and vulnerable population) in Southern California who reported using illicit drugs in the past 30 days.
Results: For people who use only cannabis, higher drug-avoidance self-efficacy was associated with older age, lower drug involvement scores, lower drug severity scores, and higher readiness to change use. For people who use other drugs, higher drug avoidance self-efficacy scores was associated with lower drug severity scores, lower psychiatric severity scores, higher medical severity scores, and higher readiness to change use.
Conclusion: This study identified several factors (some common, some unique) related to higher drug-avoidance self-efficacy for both groups. Results may be important when designing intervention protocols for use in the ED.
Keywords: Drug use; cannabis; drug severity; emergency department; psychiatric severity; self-efficacy.