Major Causes of Drug Abuse From the Viewpoint of Addicted Persons Referred to Addiction Treatment Centers of Tabriz City, Iran

Abstract

Background: Addiction is a social disease that has physical and psychological complications. Determination of causes of drug addiction plays an important role in the health planning. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine to the major causes of drug addiction in addicts referred to addiction centers of Tabriz city, east Azarbaijan province, Iran, in 2015. Patients and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 525 drug addicts who were referred to the addiction centers of Tabriz, Iran, were enrolled. The researcher-made questionnaire included open and closed questions and aimed to evaluate the causes of drug addiction. The questionnaire’s reliability and validity were evaluated and approved. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics by SPSS software version 17. Results: From a total of 525 addicts, 488 cases were male and 37 were female. Failures in life and escape from problems were the major causes of drug addiction. There was a significant difference between male and female addicted persons in most of the drug addiction causes (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The tendency towards drug addiction has different causes. In the present study, the most common causes are failure in life and escape from problems. Given that the population of this study is limited to addiction centers, further studies should be performed on the patients referred to the hospitals or clinics.