Demographic Profiling of Patients on Drug Dependence Admitted in Punjab Institute of Mental Health, Addiction Treatment Centre, Lahore
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36552/pjns.v28i1.965Abstract
Objective: Drug dependence is a global public health concern, affecting millions and contributing to widespread negative consequences. This research delves into the demographic characteristics of drug abuse patients at the Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) Addiction Treatment Center in Lahore, Pakistan.
Materials and Methods: Utilizing a cross-sectional research-based descriptive design, the study employs purposive sampling and a comprehensive questionnaire to collect data from 100 drug abusers. The analysis considered age, gender, socioeconomic status, residential area, occupation, education, marital status, and family system, shedding light on the diverse factors contributing to the drug dependence of the patients.
Results: The results revealed a diverse age range (18-80 years) among participants (M=33,4, SD=10.3), most of them belonging to lower (34%) and middle class (39%); 67 respondents residing in the urban region and 32 from the rural areas. Heroin (32.3%) was reported to be the most consumed substance while cannabis (25.8%) and crystal methamphetamine (16.4%) were the second and third respectively taken mostly through sniffing. Among the reasons for using drugs, peer pressure came out to be the most reported cause.
Conclusion: The findings underscored the complexity of drug dependence, necessitating targeted interventions that consider demographic variations that are crucial for effective treatment and prevention strategies. The study contributed valuable knowledge to the existing scientific understanding of drug dependence, paving the way for more informed public health initiatives.
References
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. World Drug Report 2023 [Internet]. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; 2023. Available from: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/world-drug-report-2023.html
World Health Organization. Public health dimension of the world drug problem [Internet]. World Health Organization; 2022. Available from: https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA75/A75_43-en.pdf
Peacock A, Leung J, Larney S, Colledge S, Hickman M, Rehm J, Giovino GA, West R, Hall W, Griffiths P, Ali R. Global statistics on alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use: 2017 status report. Addiction. 2018;113(10):1905-26.
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. European drug report 2022: trends and developments. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities; 2022.
Sattar N, Waqas A, Chaudhary AMD, Kumar S, Abbas N, Amin R, et al. Prevalence of Common Mental Disorders in South Asia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis. Frontiers in Psychiatry [Internet]. 2020 Sep 2;11. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.573150
Sattar N, Waqas A, Chaudhary AMD, Kumar S, Abbas N, Amin R, et al. Corrigendum: Prevalence of Common Mental Disorders in South Asia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression analysis. Frontiers in Psychiatry [Internet]. 2020 Nov 20;11. Available from:
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.602062
Miyasato K. The definition of drug dependence. Nihon Rinsho. Japanese Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2010;68(8):1431-6.
Geramian N, Gharaat L, Taheri SA, Mohebpour F, Nahvizadeh M, Farajzadegan Z, Heidari K. Development of a questionnaire to assess drug abuse among high school students of Isfahan province, Iran: An action research. International journal of preventive medicine. 2014;5(Suppl2):S146.
Ali H, Bushra R, Aslam N. Profile of drug users in Karachi city, Pakistan. EMHJ-Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal. 2011;17(1):41-45.
Batool S, Manzoor I, Hassnain S, Bajwa A, Abbas M, Mahmood M, Sohail H. Pattern of addiction and its relapse among habitual drug abusers in Lahore, Pakistan. EMHJ. 1995;23(3).
Baratta AM, Rathod RS, Plasil SL, Seth A, Homanics GE. Exposure to drugs of abuse induce effects that persist across generations. In: International review of neurobiology. Academic Press; 2021;156:217-277.
Kiburi SK, Molebatsi K, Obondo A, Kuria MW. Adverse childhood experiences among patients with substance use disorders at a referral psychiatric hospital in Kenya. BMC psychiatry. 2018;18(1):1-2.
Kisely S, Strathearn L, Najman J. The influence of child maltreatment on substance or alcohol use in 30?year?old adults: a birth cohort study. Drug and alcohol review. 2021;40(4):673-80.
Rogers MM, McKinney C, Asberg K. Substance use predicted by parental maltreatment, gender, and five-factor personality. Personality and Individual Differences. 2018;128:39-43.
Zilberman N, Yadid G, Efrati Y, Rassovsky Y. Who
becomes addicted and to what? Psychosocial predictors of substance and behavioral addictive disorders. Psychiatry Research. 2020;291:113221.
Shin Y, Miller-Day M, Hecht ML. Differential effects of parental “drug talk” styles and family communication environments on adolescent substance use. Health communication. 2018;24(8):872-880.
Esteban J, Suárez?Relinque C, Jiménez TI. Effects of family therapy for substance abuse: A systematic review of recent research. Family process. 2023;62(1):49-73.
Heitz D. Why Are the Brains of Teens and Young Adults So Prone to Addiction and Its Deadly Consequences? [Internet]. Rolling Hills Hospital; 2017. Available from:
https://rollinghillshospital.org/brains-teens-young-adults-prone-addiction-deadly-consequences/
Siddike PM, Soron TR, Ahmed HU, Chowdhury CA. Social and family determinants of substance abuse among the patients of two hospitals in Bangladesh. Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy. 2017;8(4):1-4.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Methodological summary and definitions [Internet]. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; 2020. Available from: https://www.samhsa.gov/
Foo YC, Tam CL, Lee TH. Family factors and peer influence in drug abuse: a study in rehabilitation centre. International Journal of Collaborative Research on Internal Medicine & Public Health. 2012;4(3):189.
Stone AL, Becker LG, Huber AM, Catalano RF. Review of risk and protective factors of substance use and problem use in emerging adulthood. Addictive behaviors. 2012;37(7):747-75.
Basu A, Sankhla MS, Kumar R. Drug Abuse and Misuse: Just a Sniff for Death Trap in Punjab Region. Journal of Seybold Report ISSN NO.;1533:9211.
Zaman M, Razzaq S, Hassan R, Qureshi J, Ijaz H, Hanif M, Chughtai FR. Drug abuse among the students. Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Research. 2015;1(1):41-7.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Farrakh Abdullah, Farrakh Abdullah, Aqila Unbrin, Muhammad Ahmad Faisal, Tahira ArshadThe work published by PJNS is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). Copyrights on any open access article published by Pakistan Journal of Neurological Surgery are retained by the author(s).
