Comorbid Psychopathology and Alcohol Use Patterns among Methadone Maintenance Treatment Patients

Abstract

130 patients from a methadone maintenance treatment program agreed to complete Symptoms Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90R) and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) self-report scales. Scores higher than the proposed cut-score on SCL-90R scale were observed on depression, obsessions-compulsions, paranoid ideation, anxiety, anger-hostility, somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, and psychoticism subscales. In sum, 42.9% of our sample exhibited depressive symptomatology, 34.9% obsessive-compulsive symptoms, 29.1% somatization, 27.2% anxiety symptoms, 22.2% paranoid ideation, 19% phobic anxiety, 15.1% psychoticism, and 15.1% hostility and 11.9% presented with symptoms of interpersonal sensitivity. Mean score on AUDIT scale was 6.9 ± 7.9. 63.0% of our participants scored below cut-off and were classified as having a low level of alcohol-related problems; 24.4% scored in the range of 8–15 which is an indication of alcohol abuse whereas 12.6% scored 16 and above indicative of serious abuse/addiction. Scores on AUDIT scale were positively correlated with length of time on methadone treatment, but not with length of time on drug use or age of our participants. Positive correlations were observed among AUDIT and SCL-90R scores, namely, with global severity index score, positive symptom distress index, positive symptom total, and all primary symptom dimensions subscales except phobic anxiety.

<p>An Inverse Relationship Between Alcohol and Heroin Use in Heroin Users Post Detoxification</p>

“…Numerous studies have assessed alcohol use in heroin users receiving OAMT. 3,6,15,16,[25][26][27][28][29] However, very few studies from LAMIC report on alcohol and other drug use in heroin users who have received detoxification and psychosocial rehabilitation. Our study shows that initial decreases in heroin use were followed by a significant increase 6 months later.…”

Alcohol use in opioid agonist treatment

“…Furthermore, as hepatitis infection is a common comorbidity among opioid dependent individuals with prevalence estimates ranging from 64 to 100% in some cohorts [39–44], chronic alcohol misuse can result in hepatotoxicity and increase an individual’s risk for progression to cirrhosis [11, 13, 15]. Additionally, alcohol misuse can exacerbate psychiatric comorbidities such as anxiety, depression and suicidality, all of which are known to be more common among OAT recipients [8, 10, 12, 45, 46]. Lastly, a study by Sebanjo et al demonstrated alcohol misuse to be associated with a significant reduction in quality of life and social functioning among methadone maintained individuals [14].…”

The Relationship Between Personality Traits, Psychopathological Symptoms, and Problematic Internet Use: A Complex Mediation Model

“…For instance, in the case of compulsive buying, Maraz et al [ 60 ] found an increased level of obsessive-compulsive symptoms among addicted shoppers compared to nonaddicted shoppers. Moussas et al [ 61 ] investigated patients of a methadone maintenance treatment program, and depression and obsessive-compulsive symptoms were found to have the highest mean scores among all the symptoms. Similarly, in the case of methamphetamine users, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and depression were reported to have the highest levels among the psychopathological symptoms, especially for injectors (compared to methamphetamine users who used other routes of administration) [ 62 ].…”