The impact of lifetime substance use on psychiatric comorbidities and treatment seeking in patients with alcohol use disorders.

It is well-recognized that individuals with alcohol-related disorders often use other psychoactive substances; however, systematic research on this topic remains limited. The primary objective was to determine the prevalence of lifetime psychoactive substance use and describe the dependence between concurrent use of alcohol and other drugs on psychiatric comorbidities in the analyzed group. The secondary aim was to try to assess the frequency of seeking psychiatric treatment between individuals declaring the concurrent use of alcohol with other drugs and those declaring the use only alcohol. The study was designed as a retrospective cross-sectional analysis based on discharge reports from psychiatric patients admitted to the Regional Psychiatric Hospital in Olsztyn, Poland. 1015 cases were included and analyzed in the study. Data for the study were collected in specially designed monitoring cards from discharge reports including data from psychiatric examinations, especially anamnesis. The percentage of people declaring lifetime use of psychoactive substances was 17.6%. 2.8% of them were diagnosed with substance-related disorders (F11-19 according to ICD-10). The most frequently declared use was cannabis, followed by amphetamine-type substances, benzodiazepines and new psychoactive substances. In the group of people declaring the lifetime use of psychoactive substances, 13.4% were additionally diagnosed with mental disorders. It was, consequently, 8% in the group of people denying the lifetime use of psychoactive substances. People declaring lifetime use of psychoactive substances were significantly more likely to seek psychiatric treatment, i.e. they were admitted significantly more often on an emergency admission than on an elective one, these people were significantly more likely to have undergone psychiatric treatment in the past and were more often hospitalized in our center during the research period. People who concurrently use alcohol with other drugs significantly more often have psychiatric comorbidity than people who deny the use of other drugs. That group also visibly more often seeks psychiatric treatment than patients who deny taking psychoactive substances.

Life time use of illicit substances among adolescents and young people hospitalized in psychiatric hospital.

Adolescents are known to be particularly vulnerable, compared to children and adults, to initiation of substance use and progression to problematic use. This study aimed to examine the prevalence and type of illicit drug use in a population of adolescents and young adults who were hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital. The purpose of the study was also to find the link between age, sex, type of admission and particular mental disorders and using psychoactive substances at least once in a lifetime. A 12-month retrospective cross-sectional analysis of medical records compiled for adolescent and youth psychiatric patients who had been admitted to the Regional Psychiatric Hospital in Olsztyn, Poland, between October 1, 2018, and September 30, 2019, was conducted. After analyzing the available medical records, 506 cases were included and analyzed. Data for the study were collected in an Excel spreadsheet from discharge reports, including data from psychiatric examinations, especially anamnesis. Subsequently, statistical calculations were performed. Lifetime prevalence of any illicit substance use (34.0%) was common. The most frequently used drug was Cannabis (29.2%), the next New Psychoactive Substance-NPS (14.2%) and Amphetamine (13.0%). The higher number of people declaring to take illicit substances was proportional to the increasing age. Except for the group 10-15 years, the subject group was dominated by males. The highest, statistically significant percentage of patients who declared taking illicit substances in general, was found in people with diagnoses F20-F29 (schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders) (55%), additionally, we found a statistically significant association between NPS use and these diagnoses. Only in the group of patients diagnosed with eating disorders no one declared taking psychoactive substances. However, the correlation between taking illicit drugs and the subgroups with diagnosed psychiatric diseases should be treated with caution because of the small sample size in some cases. Our findings have shown the significant prevalence of the phenomenon in this population. These data highlight the need to explore this population at high risk carefully.