Psychiatric Comorbidities in Patients with Alcohol Dependence Syndrome in a Tertiary Care Center: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: The co-occurence of substance abuse and mental illness is well known. Alcoholics are reported to be three times more likely to suffer from another psychiatric disorder. This study aims to observe the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity in alcohol dependent patients in our setup. Methods: This was a hospital based cross-sectional observational study conducted over a period of three months. Consecutive patients presenting to the out-patient section of Psychiatric department who met the DSM-IV-TR criteria for alcohol dependence were included in the study. They were interviewed using Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR (SCID I&II) to assess for comorbidity. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS TM) software. Mann Whitney U test and Chi square or Fisher's Exact tests were used for statistical analysis. Results: Out of 31 patients enrolled, 14 (45.16%) had psychiatric comorbid conditions all of which were Axis I disorders. Anxiety disorder (35.71%) was the most frequent associated disorder followed by depressive disorder (28.57%). The alcohol dependent patients with comorbidity was significantly younger (mean age=35.71±13.60 years) in comparison to those without comorbidity (mean age=42.59±11.15 years). Other socio-demographic parameters were comparable between the two groups. Patients with history of past psychiatric illness and medication were less likely to have comorbidity, which was statistically significant. Conclusion: Psychiatric comorbidity is common in alcohol dependent people. Anxiety disorder and depression were more prevalent entities. Those with past illness and medications were less likely to have comorbidities.

Depression in Patients with Alcohol Dependence Syndrome in a Tertiary Care Center: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

“…Psychiatry comorbidity was found to be highest in 44 (42.3%) patients. This prevalence is similar to that of studies by Sharma B, et al 6 (45.16%) and Vohra AK, et al 9 (76.6%). Shakya DR, et al found 18.7% mood disorders among alcohol use disorders.…”

“…In the conducted study there were 16 (94.11%) male and 1 (5.88%) female suffering from depressive illness, out of total study group population male comprise of 92 (88.5%), and female of 12 (11.5%) which showed there were relatively fewer number of female patients seeking medical help in eastern region of Nepal. Similar to that of the study done by Sharma B, et al 6 showed the highest participant were male (80.63%) and Sedain, et al 11 also showed that the predominant number were male (93.15%) participants which had similar findings to the current study. Study done by Sharma B, et al 6 showed married with comorbidity was 35.48% and without comorbidity was 51.61% whereas unmarried were few in number with comorbid diagnosis was 9.7% and without comorbid diagnosis was 3.22%.…”

“…A hospital based study by Ravikanth T, et al also reported a similar prevalence of 33% had comorbid psychiatric disorders. 12 In the current study, depression was found to be 16.3% as the highest comorbid psychiatric diagnosis whereas the studies done by Sharma B, et al 6 found highest comorbid Axis-I psychiatric diagnosis was anxiety disorders (35.71%) followed by depression (28.57%) whereas study done by Vohra AK, et al 9 showed that highest was Axis-I disorders and Shakya DR. 10 et al showed 18.7% was mood disorders. Sedain et al 11 showed that Psychosis is 12.36% followed by anxiety disorder 7.33% and depressive disorder 6.56% showing significant differences from our study.…”

“…1 Several studies have shown that the high correlation has been tightly coupled with psychiatric comorbidity and alcohol. [2][3][4][5][6] Given the fact that Psychiatry and people's acceptance to visit Psychiatry related treatment or refer to treat patients still lies to reluctant compared to physical medical treatment. While the developed countries have been heavily focused in academics, research and resources for such study-Nepal remains one of the underdeveloped countries to be lacking adequate study in Alcohol Dependence Syndrome and comorbidities.…”

Sociodemographic Profiles And Psychiatric Comorbidities Among Patients With Alcohol Dependence In Western Nepal

“…Depressive disorder accounts for 28.57 % of comorbidity which is a bit lower than our findings but we have included mood disorders overall (32.5 %) so that if we consider depression alone, its frequency should be similar. 13 Another study done in Kathmandu enrolling 37 participants with the regular use of alcohol, alcohol induced psychotic disorder was found in 6.19 % of study opulations. 14 Our finding of 12.5 % psychotic disorders in alcohol dependent patients must be due to inclusion of independent psychotic patients also who were regularly using alcohol in the background of ongoing psychotic phenomena.…”