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.
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.