Associations between polysubstance use and psychiatric comorbidities

Abstract

Introduction Polydrug use studies mention demographic and socioeconomic factors that may influence this problem. One of them is the existence of psychiatric comorbidity; Rentrop’s study (Rentrop et al., 2014) finds in a sample of 50 patients that all patients had at least one axis I disorder, 90% at least one axis II disorder, which may compromise the outcome of detoxification and dehabituation treatments (Rentrop et al., 2014). Another study found that 44.9% of patients admitted to a psychiatric unit are polydrug users (Karam et al., 2002). Objectives To study the possible association of polydrug use with psychiatric comorbidity in patients admitted to a general hospital and presenting drug use. Methods We made a descriptive retrospective study through the use of electronic medical records. The drug use history was obtained for all patients admitted to the inpatient service of a general hospital during a 3-year period. Results More cases of poly-consumption together with psychiatric comorbidity are found than expected in the χ² Test, with significant results (χ² = 27.2; p<0.001). The mean age of the patient with poly-consumption and psychiatric comorbidity is 34.9 years. Psychiatric comorbidity Polydrug use No Yes Total No Observed 296 0 296 Expected 284 11.64 296 Yes Observed 217 21 238 Expected 229 9.36 238 Total Observed 513 21 534 513 21 534 Conclusions Psychiatric comorbidity in patients with polydrug use may be overlooked (Kruckow et al. 2016). Identifying patients with dual diagnosis is important given that these patients suffer decreased treatment compliance and life expectancy compared with single-diagnosis patients (Kruckow et al., 2016). References Rentrop, M., Zilker, T., Lederle, A., Birkhofer, A., & Hörz, S. (2014). Psychiatric comorbidity and personality structure in patients with polyvalent addiction. Psychopathology, 47(2), 133–140. https://doi.org/10.1159/000351784 Kruckow, L., Linnet, K., & Banner, J. (2016). Psychiatric disorders are overlooked in patients with drug abuse. Danish medical journal, 63(3), A5207. Disclosure of Interest None Declared