The AOD monitoring system obtains hospital discharge information from the BC Ministry of Health to calculate alcohol-, tobacco-, and illicit-drug-related morbidity for BC’s five regional health authorities, their associated Health Service Delivery Areas, and for BC as a whole. Most current information for BC (2008) shows that hospitalizations for conditions attributable to alcohol were close to four times those related to illicit drugs and more than two-thirds those related to tobacco.
Specifically, in 2008, there were a total of 20,044 alcohol-related, 4,723 drug-related and 27,660 tobacco-related hospitalizations across BC. BC hospitalizations were estimated to be 432 per 100,000 residents for alcohol-related conditions, 108 per 100,000 for conditions related to illicit drugs, and 559 per 100,000 for tobacco-related conditions.
Rates of hospitalizations in BC attributable to substance use BC by categories of ICD-10 codes were generated using data from the BC Ministry of Health. Tobacco was the most substantial contributor to cardiovascular-, cancer-, and pulmonary- related hospitalizations in BC. Alcohol was also a considerable contributor to the rate of cardiovascular- and cancer-related hospitalizations and the primary contributor to substance-related injuries (e.g. poisonings, suicides, motor vehicle accidents, etc.) and mental health events in BC.
The annual number of deaths in BC attributable to alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs has been calculated using the most complete and reliable data available (2001-2006) from BC Vital Statistics as of March 2008. The most recent information for BC shows that alcohol is related to more than twice as many deaths as all illicit drugs combined but to only one-fifth the deaths related to tobacco.
Specifically, in 2006 there were 4,610 deaths that can be attributed to tobacco, 905 deaths that can be attributed to alcohol, and 378 deaths that can be attributed to illicit drugs. There were also 454 deaths in BC estimated to have been prevented by moderate alcohol use. However, such estimates have become controversial. These numbers translate to 96.28 tobacco-related deaths per 100,000 people, 19.48 alcohol-related deaths per 100,000 people, and 8.60 illicit-drug-related deaths per 100,000 people in BC for 2006.
Rates of substance-caused mortality in BC by categories of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) were generated using data from BC Vital Statistics. Tobacco was the most substantial contributor to
cardiovascular-, cancer-, and pulmonary-related deaths in BC. Alcohol and other drugs were more substantial contributors to deaths related to mental health, injuries (e.g. poisonings, suicides, motor vehicle accidents, etc.) and other medical events (e.g. pancreatitis, cirrhosis, ulcers, etc).