The Prevalence of Substance Use among Psychiatric Patients at Bugando Medical Centre, Mwanza Tanzania

Background: The problem of substance use is increasing in developing countries and African countries are seen as a new profitable market for the drug trade. Numerous studies have been done in other countries including neighbouring Kenya to the North of Tanzania, showing a high rate of substance use among psychiatric patients. No published work, however, has been done in Tanzania specifically to investigate prevalence of substance abuse among psychiatric patients. Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of substance use, associated socio demographic variables and the types of substances used among psychiatric patients at BMC, Mwanza-Tanzania. Method: Researcher designed socio demographic questionnaire and WHO ASSIST were used. A study was a descriptive cross sectional with an analytical component. Only those who gave informed consent/assent and met inclusion criteria were included in the study. The data was double entered, cleaned, and both descriptive and inferential analysis done using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 16. Results: A total of 184 psychiatric patients were interviewed. There were more males 70.7% than females 29.3% who also reported to have higher rate of substance use, with the age range of 15-80 years with a mean age of 34.8 years, and of whom 96.2% were within official working age (18-60 years). The most frequently used substances were Alcohol 59.3%, tobacco 38.6% and Cannabis 29.3%, while heroin and cocaine were the least used (2.1% and i 1.6% respectively). Significant associations were found between level of education, formal employment, marital status, gender, family history of mental illness and substance use. Conclusion and recommendation: There is high prevalence of substance use (68.5%) among psychiatric patients, hence the need to manage the conditions concurrently for mutually better outcome. It is highly recommended that BMC should put in place a policy on appropriate standard clinical practices to identify substance use in all psychiatric patients.

[1]  Gladys Thembinkosi Mhlongo.  DRUG ABUSE IN ADOLESCENTS IN SWAZILAND , 2009 .

[2]  N. Volkow.  Substance Use Disorders in Schizophrenia—Clinical Implications of Comorbidity , 2009, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[3]  J. Sinclair,et al.  Co-morbid substance misuse in psychiatric patients: prevalence and association with length of inpatient stay , 2008, Journal of psychopharmacology.

[4]  M. Kuria,et al.  Substance abuse and psychiatric co-morbidities: , 2008 .

[5]  Lillian M Bunyassi-Asuga.  Prevalence of substance abuse among forensic psychiatry inpatients at Mathari Hospital Nairobi, Kenya , 2008 .

[6]  C. Rosen,et al.  Substance abuse-related mortality among middle-aged male VA psychiatric patients. , 2008, Psychiatric services.

[7]  H. Chande,et al.  Prevalence of and factors associated with alcohol consumption in Temeke in August/September, 2002. , 2007, East African journal of public health.

[8]  Peter B. Jones,et al.  Substance use in a population-based clinic sample of people with first-episode psychosis , 2007, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[9]  C. Othieno,et al.  The Relationship between Substance Abuse, Nicotine Use and Positive and Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenic Patients at Mathari Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya , 2007 .

[10]  R. Laugharne,et al.  Alcohol misuse in psychiatric outpatients in Ghana , 2006 .

[11]  C. Galletly,et al.  Substance misuse in patients with acute mental illness , 2006, The Medical journal of Australia.

[12]  J. Rabinowitz,et al.  Reported comorbidity of mental disorders with substance abuse among psychiatric inpatients in israel , 1996, The journal of mental health administration.

[13]  L. Naing,et al.  Practical Issues in Calculating the Sample Size for Prevalence Studies , 2006 .

[14]  R. Ali,et al.  Validation of the World Health Organization Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST): report of results from the Australian site. , 2005, Drug and alcohol review.

[15]  F. Holloway,et al.  Is cannabis an anti‐antipsychotic? The experience in psychiatric intensive care , 2005, Human psychopharmacology.

[16]  K. D. Tripathi,et al.  Essentials of Medical Pharmacology , 2004 .

[17]  S. Magura,et al.  Perceived reasons for substance misuse among persons with a psychiatric disorder. , 2004, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[18]  宮重 徹也,et al.  The Merck Manual of Medical Information : Home Edition : メルクマニュアル医学情報[家庭版](本の紹介) , 2003 .

[19]  B. Carroll,et al.  Substance abuse in bipolar disorder. , 2001, Bipolar disorders.

[20]  P. Yarnold,et al.  Substance use disorder in hospitalized severely mentally ill psychiatric patients: prevalence, correlates, and subgroups. , 2000, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[21]  J. D. Beard.  Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research A Brief Dateline , 1998 .

[22]  Y. Bai,et al.  Substance use disorders among inpatients with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder in a general hospital. , 1998, General hospital psychiatry.

[23]  M. B. Sebit,et al.  Prevalence of psychoactive substance use among psychiatric in-patients in Harare, Zimbabwe. , 1997, The Central African journal of medicine.

[24]  M. Possi.  Effects of drug abuse on cognitive and social behaviors , 1996 .

[25]  S. Kaaya,et al.  Prevalence of substance abuse among secondary school students in Dar es Salaam , 1992 .