Substance Use Among Persons with Serious Mental Illness in Eastern Ontario

Abstract

One hundred and eighty persons with serious mental illness (SMI) in eastern Ontario, receiving services from assertive community treatment teams in Brockville and Kingston were interviewed about substance use. Data were compared to survey findings for the Ontario population. Tobacco use was higher among both men and women in the SMI sample, but use of alcohol and drugs in the past 12 months was lower than population data. The frequency of alcohol use was significantly greater than drug use among the SMI sample.

A combined analysis of worldwide studies demonstrates an association between bipolar disorder and tobacco smoking behaviors in adults

“…Table describes 51 samples of patients with bipolar disorder from 16 different countries. A total of 41,710 patients are described (45% were current smokers).…”

“…Supplementary Table 1 details our computer search, describing the excluded articles ( see Supplementary Data File #1 ) and the 55 articles on adults ( see Supplementary Data File #2 ) included in at least one of the data tables (Tables and Supplementary Tables 2–7 ). Forty‐eight of the 55 articles were obtained from a PubMed computer search and the remaining seven came from the senior author's collection . Twelve additional articles with data on bipolar disorder were included in the text of the present review but not in the data tables; 11 of these were from the PubMed search and one came from the senior author's collection .…”

Cardiovascular risk factor documentation and management in primary care electronic medical records among people with schizophrenia in Ontario, Canada: retrospective cohort study

“…Smoking is highly prevalent among people with schizophrenia; Canadian estimates range from 47% 28 to 78%. 29 There are many effective interventions to support patients with schizophrenia to stop smoking. 30 It is therefore essential to document smoking status for all patients with schizophrenia and to make smoking cessation a priority.…”

Using a Mobile Laboratory to Study Mental Health, Addictions and Violence: A Research Plan

“…In particular, a computerized questionnaire is being used to collect self-report measures of: (1) depression and anxiety disorders (the most prevalent psychiatric problems and the leading causes of mental health-related disability) [54][55][56]; (2) partner and non-partner verbal aggression and physical violence; (3) alcohol, marijuana and tobacco use and problems (the most widely used substances and those which have been shown to be consistently associated with mental disorders [21,57,58, see also 59,60] and health harms generally [5]); (4) the burden of disabilities related to the occurrence and co-occurrence of MHAV problems on individuals and their families; and (5) utilization of services and barriers to accessing care for MHAV problems. Participants in all studies are also asked to provide a hair sample and a saliva sample.…”