Quality of life in substance dependence syndrome

Abstract

Euphoriant or consciousness altering substance is detrimental to the quality of life of the users. However, due to paucity of studies it is difficult to draw an overall picture of the connection between substance use and quality of life. Fishtail Hospital and Research Centre Pvt. Ltd is located at Pokhara. It is a well-known region in Nepal which has high prevalence of the substance dependence and thus warrants certain effective strategies to address this public health problem. This is a cross- sectional, descriptive hospital based study. After informed consent by administering a semi-structured clinico-socio- demographic performa 60 subjects were included. ICD-10 criteria were used for the diagnosis. The Nepali version of WHOQOL-BREF was administered to assess the quality of life10. Data were analysed by using appropriate tools like Chi-square and Fisher exact tests for association between the continuous variable. The relevant socio-demographic and clinical profiles were also incorporated. The subjects made two groups 30 with alcohol dependence (ADS) and 30 with injecting drug use (IDU). QOL in all spheres was low in all the subjects but with IDU it was even poorer. Among the domain score of both the group of subjects the most affected areas were the psychological health followed by physical health while social and environmental health were relatively less affected.QOL in all spheres was low in all the subjects but with IDU it was even poorer. The most affected areas were the psychological health and physical health.