Author's personal copy
Mathematical and Computer Modelling 52 (2010) 1023–1029
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mcm
A network model for the short-term prediction of the evolution ofcocaine consumption in Spain
Francisco-José Santonja a,∗, Iván-C. Lombana b, María Rubio b, Emilio Sánchez c,Javier Villanueva d
a Departamento de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, Universidad de Valencia, Spainb Instituto de Matemática Multidisciplinar, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spainc Unidad de Conductas Adictivas de Catarroja, Agencia Valenciana de Salud, Spaind Centro de Estudios Superiores Felipe II, Aranjuez, Madrid, Spain
Cocaine consumption is a social problem with acute consequences and its dependency can
be regarded as a health concern of social transmission. This fact leads us to develop the
Received in revised form 11 February 2010
idea that its transmission dynamics can be studied using epidemiological mathematical
models. Under this point of view, in this paper we propose a network model to studythe short-term evolution of the cocaine consumer subpopulations. The model parameters
are obtained from data source and from an analogue continuous model. Sensitivity of the
model parameters is studied. The parameters are associated with prevention and treatment
policies and the sensitivity study gives us information about which parameters have more
incidence on the future evolution of consumers. Results and discussion are also presented.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction
Cocaine consumption is growing at a worrying rate in developed and developing countries [1,2]. In Spain it is becoming
a serious problem not only from an individual health point of view but also from the public socioeconomic one [3,4]. Wenote that cocaine consumption is increasing (see Table 1).
Thus it is in the interest of public health to study the dynamics of cocaine consumption. In this article, we analyze the
evolution of people with habitual cocaine consumption in Spain and simulate some health policy proposals and their effectin reducing this population. Spanish Government strategy on drug abuse appears in the Plan Nacional sobre Drogas (DrugsNational Plan) [3,5], issued by the Spanish Health Ministry. The objectives mentioned in this document are:
1. The prevention of drug consumption, pointing out the health concerns produced by their consumption, delaying the age
of the first contact with drugs, education programs and legal fight against drugs dealing.
2. To improve quantitative and qualitative research, implement new treatments, evaluate current therapy programs and
training to increase professional competence of the people who work with drug abusers.
In this paper, we take cocaine consumption as a socially transmitted epidemic disease. We treat cocaine consumption as a
disease that spreads through social peer pressure or social contact. These social contacts have an influence on the probabilityof transmission of cocaine consumption. The main idea behind this conception is that cocaine consumption can spread
∗ Corresponding address: Instituto de Matemática Multidisciplinar, Edificio 8G, piso 2, Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación, Universidad Politécnica de
E-mail addresses: francisco.santonja@uv.es, franciscosantonja@hotmail.com (F.-J. Santonja).
0895-7177/$ – see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.mcm.2010.02.032
Author's personal copy F.-J. Santonja et al. / Mathematical and Computer Modelling 52 (2010) 1023–1029
[17] Spanish Ministry of Health, Spanish Drugs Survey 2007–2008, Retrieved 12th February 2008 from: http://www.msc.es/gabinetePrensa/notaPrensa/
pdf/EncuestaDomiciliariaDrogasAlcohol(EDADES)MINISTRO.pdf.
[18] Spanish Statistic Institute, Retrieved 12th February 2008 from: www.ine.es. [19] L. Caballero, Adicción a cocaína: neurobiología, clínica, diagnóstico y tratamiento, Delegación del Gobierno para el Plan Nacional sobre Drogas,
Ministerio del Interior, Madrid, 2005 [Addiction to cocaine: neurobiology, clinic, diagnosis and treatment. National Plan on Drugs. Spain].
[20] L. Dutra, G. Stathopoulou, S.L. Basdem, T.M. Leyro, M.B. Powers, M.W. Otto, A meta-analytic review of psychosocial interventions for substance use
disorders, American Journal of Psychiatry 165 (2008) 179–187.
[21] A. Budney, S. Higgins, D. Mercer, G. Carpenter, Therapy manuals for drug abuse, A Community Reinforcement Plus Vouchers Approach, Treating
Cocaine Addiction, National Institute on Drug Abuse, EE.UU, 1998.
[22] D. Mercer, G. Woody, Therapy manuals for drug abuse, An individual drug counselling approach to treat cocaine addiction, The Collaborative Cocaine
Treatment Study, National Institute on Drug Abuse, EE.UU, 1998.
[23] J. Schmitz, A. Stotts, H. Rhoades, J. Grabowski, Naltrexone and relapse prevention treatment for cocaine-dependent patients, Addictive Behaviors 26
[24] B. Johnson, J. Roach, N. Ait-Daoud, M. Javors, J. Harrison, A. Elkashef, et al., Preliminary, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the
safety and efficacy of ondansetron in the treatment of cocaine dependence, Drug and Alcohol Dependence 84 (2006) 256–263.
[25] A. Stotts, M. Mooney, S. Sayre, M. Novy, J. Schmitz, J. Grabowski, Illusory predictors: Generalizability of findings in cocaine treatment retention research,
Addictive Behaviors 32 (2007) 2819–2836.
[26] F. Levin, S. Evans, D. Brooks, F. Garawi, Treatment of cocaine dependent treatment seekers with adult ADHD: double-blind comparison of
methylphenidate and placebo, Drug and Alcohol Dependence 87 (2007) 20–29.
[27] L. Acedo, A second-order phase transition in the complete graph stochastic epidemic model, Physica A 370 (2006) 613. [28] S.M. Blower, H. Dowlatabadi, Sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of complex models of disease transmission: and HIV model, as an example,
International Statistical Review 62 (2) (1994) 229–243.
[29] A. Olsson, G. Sandberg, O. Dahlblom, On latin hypercube sampling for structural reliability analysis, Structural Safety 25 (2003) 47–68. [30] A. Hoare, D.G. Regan, D.P. Wilson, Sampling and sensitivity analyses tools (SaSAT) for computational modeling, Theoretical Biology and Medical
[31] S. Marino, I.B. Hogue, C.J. Ray, D.E. Kirschner, A methodology for performing global uncertainty and sensitivity analysis in systems biology, Journal of
Theoretical Biology 254 (2008) 178–196.
Bringing You The Latest Word In Natural Healthcare Dr. Marla O’Brien’s Breakthrough Patient Newsletter. Keeping YOU At The Leading Edge In Healthcare Hilltop Family Chiropractic 1460 Yankee Doodle Road, Eagan, MN55121 651-452-7141 fax: 651-452-7255 www.Dr.Marla.com Dear Patient and Friend, Who can benefit from chiropractic care? Children certainly can. Wi
A CASE OF PRIMARY INTRAPULMONARY MENINGIOMA Takashi Oide1, Michiyo Kambe2, Kenzo Hiroshima1, Sou Tamura3, Yasumitsu Moriya3, Hidehisa Hoshino3, Kiyoshi Shibuya3, Ichiro Yoshino3, Mari Mino-Kenudson4, Eugene J. Mark4, and Yukio Nakatani1, 2 1 Department of Diagnostic pathology, 3 Department of Thoracic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 2 Department of Pathology, Chiba Univ