A cross-sectional study about socio-demographic factors and clinical characteristics of male patients with alcohol dependence syndrome

Background: Alcohol abuse is one of the major causes of death and disability globally; and a key risk factor for health, social, and economic problems in the communities. Consumption of alcohol by Indians has increased drastically due to various factors and in an unrestricted manner; and the age of initiation of drinking is progressively coming down. Objective: To determine the socio-demographic and clinical profile of the patients coming for treatment of alcohol dependence syndrome in the psychiatry department. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 male outpatients of alcohol dependence syndrome attending the department of psychiatry at a tertiary care hospital. Sociodemographic data and clinical details were recorded with the help of a pre-designed questionnaire. Results: Nuclear family, family history of alcoholism, unmarried status, higher educational level, unemployment, and peer pressure are the factors significantly associated with early age at first drink and age of dependence on alcohol (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Adolescents having a family history of alcoholism are a high-risk group for developing alcohol dependence and should be targeted for intervention strategies. Community based-longitudinal studies are needed to understand multiple factors influencing alcohol use and recommend targeted preventive measures. Keywords: Alcohol, Alcohol dependence syndrome, Peer pressure, Intoxication, Socio-demographic factor

A cross-sectional study about socio-demographic factors and clinical characteristics of male patients with alcohol dependence syndrome

Background: Alcohol abuse is one of the major causes of death and disability globally; and a key risk factor for health, social, and economic problems in the communities. Consumption of alcohol by Indians has increased drastically due to various factors and in an unrestricted manner; and the age of initiation of drinking is progressively coming down. Objective: To determine the socio-demographic and clinical profile of the patients coming for treatment of alcohol dependence syndrome in the psychiatry department. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 male outpatients of alcohol dependence syndrome attending the department of psychiatry at a tertiary care hospital. Sociodemographic data and clinical details were recorded with the help of a pre-designed questionnaire. Results: Nuclear family, family history of alcoholism, unmarried status, higher educational level, unemployment, and peer pressure are the factors significantly associated with early age at first drink and age of dependence on alcohol (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Adolescents having a family history of alcoholism are a high-risk group for developing alcohol dependence and should be targeted for intervention strategies. Community based-longitudinal studies are needed to understand multiple factors influencing alcohol use and recommend targeted preventive measures. Keywords: Alcohol, Alcohol dependence syndrome, Peer pressure, Intoxication, Socio-demographic factor

Study on Psychiatric morbidity and socio demographic profile in cases of deliberate self harm

Background:Deliberate self harm places a considerable drain on the resources of the health care system. They form a substantial burden on health services. With these present conditions, this study was undertaken to assess the psychiatric morbidity and socio-demographic profile of patients with “deliberate self harm” admitted in the general hospital.Material:The study was conducted at general hospital over a period of six months. We included 50 patients from various units those who got admitted for deliberate self harm, self poisoning, self injury, self immolation, etc. After stabilization the patients were subjected to a detailed psychiatric evaluation to understand the basic precipitating cause besides treatment or counseling. In our study, we observed that 62% of the patients had psychiatric morbidity, out of which substance use disorders (22%) and adjustment disorder (22%) were most common. Depression was present in 18%, while 6% had schizophrenia, and only 2% had mental retardation. In this study, we found that the association between psychiatric morbidity with age (p<0.001), occupation (p<0.01), residence (p=0.002) and type of family (p=0.004) was highly significant.Conclusion:Improving the facilities for management of common psychiatric illnesses at primary care level would probably help towards the ultimate goal of prevention of deliberate self harm. Keywords: Psychiatric morbidity, Socio-demographic variables, Deliberate Self harm, Depression, Schizophrenia, Mental retardatio