Cent Eur J Public Health 2021, 29(1):62-67 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a5419

Negative trends in outpatient care of addicted patients in Hungary

Miklós Péter Kalapos
Theoretical Biology Research Group, Budapest, Hungary

Objectives: This article investigates how the numbers of registered addict patients have changed in the last three decades in Hungary and whether the predicted HIV epidemic among intravenous drug users has occurred.

Methods: Data were collected from the Annual Reports of the National Bureau of Statistics and National Epidemiological Centre as well as from the medical records of the author.

Results: The total number of registered alcoholics decreased by about 75% during the investigated period. This decrease was more pronounced among males than females. After initial increase, the number of registered drug addicts showed stagnation with an about 50% drop-out rate. Fortunately, the anticipated HIV epidemic did not manifest. The negative effect of a poor political action upon the number of client visits could, however, be documented.

Conclusion: In conclusion, negative trends are seen in the Hungarian addiction care. Numerous variables may be taken into consideration as affecting factors, but it is not yet clear to what extent these negative factors are responsible for trends. These data, however, warrant further investigations.

Keywords: alcoholic, drug addict, Jellinek formula, HIV infection, outpatient clinic

Received: May 17, 2018; Revised: December 7, 2020; Accepted: December 7, 2020; Published: March 31, 2021  Show citation

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Kalapos MP. Negative trends in outpatient care of addicted patients in Hungary. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2021;29(1):62-67. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a5419. PubMed PMID: 33831288.
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