Drug use prevalence in Ireland: Findings from recent population studies and estimates of problematic use
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Published Version
Date
2025-10-01
Authors
Millar, Seán R.
Mongan, Deirdre
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Health Research Board
Published Version
Abstract
Problematic opioid use is a significant problem in Ireland and across the world. However, measuring the prevalence of opioid use is challenging. Given the nature of this population, a simple head count is not feasible and general population surveys are known to be ineffective at capturing this ‘hidden’ population. Because people who use drugs fear stigmatisation and are often marginalised in society, the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) recommends the use of indirect approaches, such as the capture-recapture (CRC) method, to estimate the prevalence of problematic (high-risk) drug users. To date, one regional and four national CRC studies have been conducted in Ireland to estimate the prevalence of problematic opioid use. These studies provided estimates for the years 1996, 2000–01, 2006, 2011–2014, and 2015–2019.2,3,4,5,6 The 1996 regional study examined opioid use in Dublin only and used three data sources: the Health Service Executive (HSE) Central Treatment List (CTL), Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) scheme data from four Dublin hospitals, and the An Garda Síochána arrest database. The 2000–01 and 2006 studies were three-source CRC studies that used national data from the CTL, the HIPE scheme and the An Garda Síochána PULSE (Police Using Leading Systems Effectively) database. The 2011–2014 and 2015–2019 studies both used four national data sources: the CTL data were divided into three sources (treatment clinics, general practitioners (GPs), and prison data), and the Probation Service was the fourth data source. In 2020, the Health Research Board (HRB) awarded a contract to the School of Public Health at University College Cork to conduct a fifth study on the prevalence of opioid use in the Republic of Ireland for the years 2020–2022. The methodology and main findings from this study are discussed below.
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Keywords
Drug research , Alcohol , Population studies , Drug use , Healthy Ireland Survey , [PublicHealth]
Citation
Millar, S R & Mongan, D 2025, Drug use prevalence in Ireland: Findings from recent population studies and estimates of problematic use. vol. 92, Autumn 2025 edn, Health Research Board, Dublin. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.35081.92008