FREQUENCY OF PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCE ABUSERS AMONG FIRST TIME PSYCHIATRIC ADMISSIONS

Abstract

Background: Psychoactive substance abuse has been a well-recognized problem globally. The widespread abuse of psychoactive substances has far-reaching consequences, affecting individuals' physical and mental health, relationships, and overall well-being, as well as placing significant burdens on society.

Objective: To determine the frequency of psychoactive substance abusers among first time psychiatric admissions in psychiatry ward, CMH, Peshawar.

Material & Methods: This was cross sectional study, conducted from (15 February 2025 to 15 June 2025) on 65 patients, presenting and being first time admitted to the psychiatry ward of Combined Military Hospital, Peshawar. Data on substance abuse was collected via an interviewer assisted questionnaire (Annex 1 and 2). Data was collected by the trainee herself and confidentiality was assured during the data collection process. Data was analyzed using SPSS 20. Mean and standard deviation or median were used to measure quantitative variables like age and were measured after checking the normality of data by sharpio wilk test whereas frequencies and percentages were used to measure qualitative variables including gender, occupational status, co-morbidities and data collected by the self-administered ASSIST version 3.0. for dependence on tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine-type stimulants, inhalants, sedatives, hallucinogens, opioids etc. Types of substance abuse were stratified against age, gender etc. Post stratification Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test were applied to check the significance of results at 5% level of significance.

Results: Our study was conducted on 65 cases, presenting and being first time admitted to the psychiatry ward of Combined Military Hospital, Peshawar. Among our 65 total study cases,  Tobacco products dependence was found in 41 (63.1%) cases, Alcoholic beverages dependence was found in 7 (10.8%) cases, Cannabis dependence was found in 52 (80%) cases, Cocaine dependence was found in 10 (15.4%) cases, Amphetamine type stimulant dependence was found in 4 (6.2%) cases, Inhalants dependence was found in 5 (7.7%) cases, Sedatives dependence was found in 16 (24.6%) cases, Hallucinogens dependence was found in 6 (9.2%) cases and Opioids dependence was found in 14 (21.5%) cases.

Conclusion: A high frequency of moderate to high-risk use of various psychoactive substances, including tobacco, cannabis, opioids, and sedatives, was observed among patients with first-time psychiatric admissions. These findings suggest that substance use is commonly present in this population and may be associated with psychiatric morbidity. Therefore, there is a need to enhance community awareness regarding substance use and strengthen preventive strategies, including appropriate regulatory and public health measures