Results

Abstract

As described earlier, although the screening questionnaire was administered in 16 schools in three boroughs, there were differences between the boroughs in the way schools were selected for participation in the study. The 13 schools in boroughs A and B were selected at random by the research team, but it was not possible to select the schools in borough C in this way. They were instead selected by the borough Education Department. In view of the possibility that the schools in borough C may have been preferentially selected because they had a reputation for high rates of drug and solvent abuse, the data from the schools in boroughs A and B provide a more unbiased estimate of the prevalence and pattern of solvent abuse. For this reason, the epidemiological findings reported here are based on the data obtained from the schools in these two boroughs.