MATERIALS AND METHODS
Data and measures
After the research plan was approved, the Regional Office
in the Ska°ne county of Sweden supplied us with data on all
65,830 individuals aged 40–59 years living in Malmo¨ in
2001. Substance-related disorders are more common, and
therefore more likely to constitute a public health problem,
in this age bracket than in others. The Regional Office extracted
the data from the Database for Resource Allocation,
which includes demographic and socioeconomic data on
individuals (see below) and information on all inpatient
and outpatient contacts (including diagnoses and costs)