Drug and alcohol abuse in patients with acute burn injuries.

We reviewed records of adult patients admitted to our burn unit who were reported to abuse drugs or alcohol from 1985 to 1988. The proportion of patients reported as abusing drugs increased significantly from 1987 to 1988, compared to previous years. However, there was no increase in the proportion of patients reported to abuse alcohol. Patients identified as abusing drugs had longer hospital stays, compared to patients who were not reported to abuse substances. Methamphetamine and cocaine were the drugs most often abused by patients who abused drugs or both drugs and alcohol. Mechanisms of burn injury in these patients included "accidental" burn injury related to acute intoxication, and self-injury due to psychosis or depression.