The VMAX cohort study follows 850 people who use methamphetamine recruited from metropolitan Melbourne and 3 regions of rural Victoria.
Methamphetamine use is a significant public health issue in Australia. It’s associated with a range of harms that increased significantly in line with:
- major changes to the methamphetamine market
- changes in the behaviour of people who use the drug.
There a few prospective studies of methamphetamine use in Australia. In 2016, we established the VMAX cohort study to determine patterns of methamphetamine use and harm in metropolitan and rural Victoria.
People in the study complete follow-up surveys once a year. They also consent to linking their past and future data to administrative health and social datasets.
VMAX is part of a broader study called MIXMAX. This combines VMAX with SuperMIX —a study collecting data on injecting drug use over time—to form the largest cohort of active drug users in Australia.
Our impact
VMAX data is used to determine the nature and extent of methamphetamine use and harm in Victoria. The data has been used to determine issues related to drug driving and service provision across Victoria.
Published research
Key publications
Quinn B, Ward B, Agius PA, Jenkinson R, Hickman M, Sutton K, Hall C, McKetin R, Farrell M, Cossar R, Dietze PM. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2021 Nov;40(7):1239-1248.
More information
For more information, please contact paul.dietze@burnet.edu.au.
Funding partners
Colonial Foundation Trust
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Partners and collaborators
Victorian Department of Health (Tom Lyons)
Edith Cowan University (Jocelyn Jones)
Monash University (James Trauer)
Victorian Department of Health (Amy Herbert)
Royal Melbourne Hospital (Nicolas Clark)
Burnet project team
Student projects
We're looking for postgraduate students to join related research projects in 2025. Click on a project for more information.
