Health and social problems following illicit drug use among males experiencing incarceration in prison; a cross sectional study on single centre experience

I L A N Darshana,R Ruben,C J Wijesinghe

doi:10.4038/gmj.v26i2.8051

Abstract

Background: Illicit drug use is a growing problem in Sri Lanka. A significant proportion of prison admissions is illicit drug related in many countries including Sri Lanka.  Objective: This study was conducted to describe the possible health and social problems following illicit drug use among males experiencing incarceration in Prison, Galle. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 254 males with history of illicit drug use behavior. An interviewer assisted, self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the presence of known health and social problems related to drug use which were identified through literature. Associations for presence of health and social problems following illicit drug use were assessed using Chi square test at 0.05 significance level.  Results: Health and social problems following illicit drug use were common among individuals experiencing incarceration and their presence was associated with poly drug use, drug dependence and problematic drug use (p

Highlights

Illicit drug use is a growing public health problem which affects health and social wellbeing of drug users
This study attempted to identify possible health and social problems linked with illicit drug use among males experiencing incarceration who had history of illicit drug use in prison Galle
Random sample of 449 males experiencing incarceration was selected in initial stage of the study and they were screened using Drug Abuse Screening Test 20 (DAST 20) to identify individuals with history of illicit drug behaviour

Summary

Introduction

Illicit drug use is a growing public health problem which affects health and social wellbeing of drug users. Conflicts due to neglecting responsibili-ties, negligence within family, problems with sexual relationships and engaging in illegal activities to purchase drugs were identified as issues with immediate family and social impact linked with illicit drug use. All of these problems render their addictive behaviour much more difficult to treat. Addiction increases the addict’s risk to a wide variety of other illnesses affecting many systems of the body These may come about due to the toxic effects of the drugs or as a result of the poor living and health habits that is normally associated with the lifestyle and behaviour of the addict. It causes significant burden for the economy of the country, mainly for health services and rehabilitation programmes [2, 4]

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Results

Conclusion