MARITAL SATISFACTION AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH ALCOHOL AND OPIOID DEPENDENCE SYNDROME: A HOSPITAL BASED STUDY

Abstract

Background: Opioid and alcohol consumption is considered as an on-going stressor, not only for the individual, but for family members as well. Spouses are particularly affected given the intimate nature of their relationship and constant exposure to the behaviour of the dependent persons. Quality of life has emerged as an important treatment outcome measure for alcohol and opioid dependence whose natural course comprises of remission and relapse. Objective: To assess the quality of life, marital adjustment and among the patients of alcohol and opioid dependence syndrome. Materials and Methods: This was a cross sectional hospital based study and included 100 treatment seeking population 50 each with alcohol dependence and opioid dependence as per ICD-10 criteria. The participants were purposively selected and informed consent were taken. Research tools were Hindi version of Kansas Marital Satisfaction scale and WHOQOL-BREF. Results: The mean age of the participants were 34.87 +12.48 years. The study did not observe a signicant difference in the overall domains of quality of life. Except the overall health domain, quality of life was more in alcohol subjects as compared to opioid subjects (p < 0.05). There was a signicant difference in the marital quality of life which was lower in opioid dependence than alcohol dependence subjects. Conclusion: Improved marital adjustment are most important part of improved quality of life and its sustainability plays key role in preventing relapse and reaching to the recuperation. Effective management for the alcohol and opioid patients must include the marital intervention to improve the recovery and rehabilitation of the patients.