Premature death as the ultimate failure: predictors of death in the US drug user treatment population.

Premature death is the ultimate failure in public health. Failure to complete substance user treatment increases the likelihood of death. Using the five-year follow-up (1990/91-1995/96) of a representative sample of 3,047 clients discharged from drug user treatment, this article documents that deaths after treatment were 4.7 times higher for substance user treatment clients than for the U.S. population matched by age, sex, and race; death rates ranged from 3.5 times as likely for Black males to nine times as likely for White females. Logistic regression models show that completion of treatment is associated with a three-fifths decreased likelihood of death.