Study Objectives: The incidence stimulant abuse related emergency department (ED) visits is increasing, however, the epidemiology and patient characteristics of methamphetamine (meth) users is ill-defined compared to cocaine (coc) users. The objective of this study is to compare the presenting characteristics of patients with documented meth use to those with documented coc use. Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients less than 60 years old who presented to our tertiary urban ED between 1/1/2004-10/30/2004. Chief complaints were categorized according to 10 categories based on the triage complaint. The triage narrative and computer generated category were reviewed by 2 independent physicians. Discrepancies between the categorization was decided by a third physicians blinded to the initial results. Objective verification of meth coc use was based on urine toxicologic screen. The laboratory database and the triage database were linked to create a final dataset. Results:A total of 34, 544 patients <60 years old were registered. Urine tox screen identified meth in 693 (2%) patients and coc in 294 (1%). Meth and coc patients were predominately male (59% vs 69%, respectively, RR 0.9, 95% CI 0.8-1.1). Meth patients were younger ((37 yrs vs 54 yrs, respectively) diff 3 yrs, 95% CI 1-4) and less likely to be admitted than coc users. (41% vs 43%, respectively, RR 0.(.7-1.0). There was no difference in presenting complaints. Conclusion: The majority of meth and coc users presented to the ED with an acute injury and a substantial portion were admitted to the hospital. There was no difference in presenting complaint between the meth and coc users.This information may be useful for future studies aimed at secondary preventive measures and reduction in resource utilization. Reprinted with permission from Elsevier Inc. Ann Emerg Med 2005;46(3)Suppl 1:51. Tabled 1Demographics and Presenting Complaint Category Methamphetamine N=692 Cocaine N=294 Trauma 224 (26%) 107 (28%) Cardiopulmonary 120 (17%) 53 (18%) Gastrointestinal and genitourinary 109 (16%) 46 (16%) Psychiatric 95 (14%) 26 (9%) General and constitutional 20 (3%) 8 (3%) Neurologic 32 (5%) 16 (5%) Dermologic 31 (5%) 9 (3%) ENT/optho 6 (1%) 2 (1%) other 65 (9%) 27 (9%) Open table in a new tab