Abstract
Dual disorders (DD) and gender differences comprise an area of considerable concern in patients with substance use disorder (SUD). This study aims to describe the presence of DD among patients with SUD admitted to a general hospital and attended by a consultation liaison addiction service (CLAS), in addition to assessing its association with addiction severity and quality of life from a gender perspective, between 1 January and 30 September 2020. The dual diagnosis screening interview (DDSI), the severity of dependence scale (SDS), and the WHO well-being index were used to evaluate the patients. In the overall sample, DD prevalence was 36.8%, (women: 53.8% vs. men: 32.7%, NS). In both genders the most prevalent DD was depression (33.8%, women: 46.2% vs. men: 30.9%, p = 0.296). Women presented more panic disorders (46.2% vs. 12.7%, p = 0.019) and generalized anxiety (38.5% vs. 10.9%, p = 0.049) than men. When DD was present, women had worse quality of life than men (21.7 vs. 50 points, p = 0.02). During lockdown period 77 patients were attended to and 13 had COVID-19 infection, with no differences in relation to sociodemographic and consumption history variables. The study confirms a high prevalence of DD among patients with SUD admitted to a general hospital for any pathology, and its being associated with worse quality of life, particularly in women.
Highlights
Dual disorder (DD) is the coexistence in the same patient of a substance use disorder (SUD) and another psychiatric condition [1]
During the entire period of study, a total of 233 patients were admitted by the consultation liaison addiction service (CLAS)
There were no differences in gender proportion or other sociodemographic variables of the included patients versus the non-included ones
Summary
Dual disorder (DD) is the coexistence in the same patient of a substance use disorder (SUD) and another psychiatric condition [1]. Several studies show that, compared with patients with only SUD, DD patients require a greater number of emergency room admissions and hospitalizations in psychiatry services. They present higher suicide rates and more risky behaviour associated with mortality and infectious diseases, such as HIV and hepatitis viruses [2,3]. DD patients present a greater risk of addiction chronicity and severity, their treatment is more difficult and expensive, and they have a worse prognosis than those with only one psychiatric disorder (SUD or other) [5,6]
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