A typology of heroin-dependent patients based on their history of self-injurious behaviours

Abstract

Self-injurious behaviours (SIB) can provide useful criteria for subtyping heroin-dependent patients, since SIB have been related to an opioid system dysfunction and they hinder patient management. The frequency of nine varieties of moderate/superficial SIB during active heroin use was assessed retrospectively in 164 heroin-dependent patients. A principal component analysis of SIB episodes revealed a four-component solution which accounted for 69.3% of the variance. The components were named as follows (percentage of variance explained by each component is enclosed in parentheses): ʽSIB with objects’ (27.3%), ʽSIB by biting/scratching/hair-pulling’ (18.2%), ʽSIB by hitting’ (12.3%), and ʽSIB by picking scabs’ (11.5%). A cluster analysis using the results of the principal component analysis enabled us to define three types of heroin-dependent patients, labelled: ʽlow-occurrence SIB cluster’ (59.8%), ʽhigh-occurrence scab-picking cluster’ (31.7%) and ʽhigh-occurrence hitting and cutting cluster’ (8.5%). SIB by hitting was the most discriminatory component among clusters: its frequency was at a minimum in the low-occurrence SIB cluster, and attained a maximum in the high-occurrence hitting and cutting cluster. However, there were no differences among clusters regarding heroin-use variables. Patients from the low-occurrence SIB cluster, compared with those from the other two clusters, reported fewer episodes of SIB or suicide attempts and were diagnosed less frequently with bulimia. Patients from the high-occurrence scab-picking cluster had a very frequent history of these SIB, while the opposite was true in patients from the high-occurrence hitting and cutting cluster. Patients from this cluster probably presented staff members with the main management problems.