Abstract
This study aims to depict and compare clinical characteristics and risk behavior among groups of individuals using ketamine, polydrugs or smoking cigarette. A total of 185 drug-using participants and 49 smokers participated in this study. A cross-sectional interview was used to collect information on demographics, drug- and sex-related behaviors, HIV serostatus, lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), behavioral dispositions. N-back memory test was used to measure short-term memory. Result shows that 10 participants (5.41%) were HIV positive and 14 (7.57%) having LUTS. Individuals with ketamine and polydrugs use have significantly worse drug-related problem than cigarette smokers. Compared to cigarette smokers and ketamine users, individuals with polydrug users scored significantly higher on impulsivity measures. Cigarette smokers performed significantly better than the other two groups on the memory tests. A few patients had been infected with HIV and diagnosed with LUTS. Findings support that memory on short term recalls of patients with ketamine use might be impaired. Study findings warrants the necessarily of further study on influences of using ketamine.
Highlights
Functions, its users are likely to engage in high-risk behavior that can lead to HIV infection[25,26] and reckless driving[11]
The sample consisted of 159 patients with ketamine use, 26 patients with polydrug use and 49 cigarette smokers
Of the multiple adverse effects stemming from chronic ketamine use that we found in our study, of greatest concern to us were the noticeable rates of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and HIV infection
Summary
Functions, its users are likely to engage in high-risk behavior that can lead to HIV infection[25,26] and reckless driving[11]. Young adults under the influence of various club drugs were shown to be at greater risk than nonusers of engaging in dangerous behavior such as unprotected sex, facilitating the transmission of infectious diseases[26]. These studies highlight the many adverse outcomes of ketamine misuse. The drawback of these studies is that most of the ketamine users were polydrug users, and the clinical consequences of any one of these drugs is difficult to a ssess[1].
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