4.1 Deaths are normally classified by geographical area on the basis of the usual place of residence of the deceased (or, if that is not known, or is outwith Scotland, on the basis of the location of the place of death). Table HB1 shows the numbers of drug-related deaths for each Health Board area. Of the 455 deaths in 2007, 157 (35 per cent) were in the Greater Glasgow & Clyde NHS Board area. Lothian, with 54 (12 per cent), had the next highest total followed by Lanarkshire (48 or 11 per cent) and Grampian (45 or 10 per cent).
4.2 Because of the generally small numbers involved, particularly for some Health Board areas, great care should be taken when assessing any apparent trends shown in the table. As year-to-year variation in the figures could result in apparently large percentage changes (particularly for the smaller areas), the use of 5-year moving annual averages should "smooth out" the effects of any fluctuations, and so provide a better indication of the longer-term trends. The areas with the largest increases between their annual averages for 1996-2000 and 2003-2007 were Greater Glasgow & Clyde (up by 29, from 113 to 142), Lanarkshire (up by 18, from 19 to 37), Forth Valley (up by 14, from 4 to 18) and Ayrshire & Arran (up by 13, from 10 to 23).
4.3 The table also shows the population of each Health Board area, and what its average number of drug-related deaths per year (for 2003-2007) represented per 1,000 population. For Scotland as a whole, the average of 377 drug-related deaths per year represented about 0.07 per 1,000 population. Only one area had a value higher than this: Greater Glasgow & Clyde (about 0.12 per 1,000 population).
4.4 Table HB2 gives a breakdown by cause of death for each Health Board area, and Table HB3 shows some geographical differences in the reported involvement of certain drugs. The latter statistics should be used with care: they are subject to the points mentioned in paragraphs 3.3.1 and 3.3.2, the effects of which could be proportionately greater on the figures of some of the smaller areas. For most NHS Board areas, heroin/morphine was involved in a majority of the deaths e.g. 109 out of 157 in Greater Glasgow & Clyde, 34 out of 45 in Grampian, and 16 out of 29 in Tayside. However, a lower proportion was observed in Lothian (20 out of 54). Greater Glasgow & Clyde had a relatively high proportion involving methadone (47 out of 157) as did Lothian (22 out of 54). This contrasts with the lower proportions recorded in Grampian (8 out of 45) and Lanarkshire (11 out of 48). The table also shows that diazepam was involved in over two-fifths of the deaths in Lothian (25 out of 54) but in only a small proportion (14 out of 157) in Greater Glasgow & Clyde.