Personality disorder and substance related disorders: a six-month follow-up study with a Brazilian sample

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objectives A few Brazilian researches correlate personality disorders (PD) and substance related disorders (SRD). The aim of the present study is to investigate the association between them, to evaluate the PD frequency among chemical dependents inpatients, this comorbidity association with social and demographic characteristics, used drug of choice, its impact on clinical evolution until the moment of their committal, the frequency of relapse, self-help group – and psychotherapic adherence among SRD patients six months following committal. Methods A 101 inpatients sample of chemical dependents was enrolled in 2 hospitals. The following instruments were applied: a questionnaire for social and demographic characteristics identification and drug use pattern, some questions from the sixth version of the Addiction Severity Index (ASI-6), the SCID-II questionnaire and specific questions concerning psychotherapic and self-help groups participation, and medication use. Results From these 101 patients, 55.4% were diagnosed with PD, being avoidant (14.9%), borderline (11.9%) and antisocial (8.9%) the more frequent ones found. PD patients had an earlier crack use in life (p = 0.038) and had also more previous treatments than the ones without PD (p = 0.005). Borderline PD patients were less worried to substance use problem (p = 0.003). After 6-months follow-up, no statistical significance was found between patients with and without PD regarding drug use or treatment adherence. Conclusion A high PD diagnosis was found in drug use inpatients. Patients diagnosed with SRD and PD need the identification of this comorbidity and of their personality characteristics in order to plan a more comprehensive and effective treatment.

Keywords

• Transtorno por uso de drogas
• transtorno de personalidade
• comodidade
• patologia dual