Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients admitted to an addiction center

ABSTRACT

Objective

To investigate the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients admitted to an addiction center.

Methods

The medical files of 4990 patients were analyzed retrospectively.

Results

88.6% (n = 4421) of the patients were male, and the mean age was 33.51 ± 11.01 years. Substance use disorder was diagnosed in 78.5% (n = 3916) of the patients, alcohol use disorder in 20.3% (n = 1013), and prescription drug use in 1.1% (n = 57). Nearly three-quarters (72.7%, n = 2847) had multiple substance use 22.3% (n = 872) only used heroin, and 5% (n = 197) only used cannabis. 56.9% (2194/3856) of the patients had poor family relations, and 22.7% (96/422) were exposed to domestic violence. It was found that 77.9% (3882/4986) started the substance under the influence of their friends. One-fifth (20.4%, 979/4807) had intravenous substance use and 38.1% (94/247) reported non-sterile syringe sharing. We found that 10.3% (n = 512) had a blood-borne infectious disease, the most common of which was hepatitis C (n = 441).

Conclusion

Our study revealed the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients with substance use disorder. Knowing these features is very important for prevention and treatment strategies.

KEYWORDS:

• Addiction
• substance use disorder
• alcohol
• opiate
• sociodemographic

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by Gilead Sciences İlaç Ltd. Şti. (Istanbul, Turkey). Gilead Sciences İlaç Ltd. Şti. was not involved in the content of the study/publication and had no involvement in the decision to submit for publication.