Reasons provided by the 60 patients interviewed during the periods 17 to 21 July and 24 to 28 July 2000
| Reason provided | Patient numbers | % of total |
|---|---|---|
| A Don’t like taking tablets +/− worried about side effects | 12 | 26.6 |
| B Just out of drug rehab so I don’t like taking tablets | 1 | 2.2 |
| C Pain was not bad enough | 5 | 11.1 |
| D Run out of tablets | 10 | 22.2 |
| E Didn’t think about it +/− run out of tablets +/− came straight here | 5 | 11.1 |
| F Had paracetamol but didn’t think they would work | 1 | 2.2 |
| G Came straight to hospital so there was not time | 3 | 6.7 |
| H Thought they’d be a problem considering I’d been drinking [alcohol] | 2 | 4.4 |
| I Didn’t want to mask the pain | 2 | 4.4 |
| J Did it at work and was too busy to take any pills +/− thought they were not allowed to give out any pain killers | 2 | 4.4 |
| K Knew getting the pus out would relieve the pain so just wanted to get that done | 1 | 2.2 |
| L On methadone—so [simple] pain killers don’t work | 1 | 2.2 |
| Total | 45 | 100% |