All-cause mortality rate of people in treatment for substance use disorders in Belgium: A register-based cohort study.

Background: The objective of the current paper is to estimate the all-cause mortality rates for people who have been in treatment for substance use disorders (SUD) in Belgium. Methods: Data from the national register of people who were in treatment for SUD between 2011–2014 was linked to mortality data gathered through the seven Belgian health insurance agencies (N = 30,905). Four comparators were matched on age, sex, and place of residence to each subject in treatment for SUD (N = 123,497). A Cox proportional hazards model was utilized to test the risk of all-cause mortality for being in treatment for SUD or not. A second Cox proportional hazards model tested the risk of all-cause mortality for several drug-related covariates for people in treatment for SUD. Results: The overall mortality rate for people in treatment reached 15.59 per 1,000 person-years. Being in treatment for illicit substance use disorders was associated with a nearly 11-fold increase in all-cause mortality, whereas being in treatment for licit drugs raised the likelihood of a premature death sevenfold. Conclusions: The results have implications for interventions seeking to reduce the elevated SUD-related mortality, and they highlight the need to intensify harm reduction strategies for people with SUD to significantly reduce drug-related mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]