Perceived stigma and its correlates among treatment seeking alcohol and opioid users at a tertiary care centre in India.

Abstract

Perceived stigma is related to the beliefs that members of stigmatized group have about the stigmatizing attitudes present in society. We present the data on perceived stigma in alcohol and opioid users seeking treatment. This study was conducted at a tertiary care de-addiction facility with recruitment of patients with substance use disorders (alcohol and opioid use). Perceived stigma was assessed using Perceived Stigma of Substance Abuse Scale (PSAS). The study included 201 participants, majority of whom were males (99.5%), educated up to 10th std. (65.7%), with mean duration of substance use of 11.4 years. Opiates were the primary substance of abuse in the majority (83.6%) with ever-injecting drug use present in a considerable proportion (29.4%). The mean perceived stigma scale score was 21.23 ± 3.03. The perceived stigma was higher in patients from rural background, but was not associated with age, educational status, current living situation, duration of substance use and injecting drug use. Stigma remains an important issue among patients with alcohol and opioid use disorders. Perceived stigma could affect participation in society and health seeking behavior in substance using population, thus needs further exploration.