ABSTRACT

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the depression in primary caregivers of patients of drugs abuse.

Study Design: Descriptive cross sectional

Place and Duration: Conducted at Psychiatry department of KMC Teaching Hospital Khairpur Mirs for four months duration from 1st July 2020 to 30th October 2020.

Methods: Total 140 patients of both genders were presented in this study. Patients detailed demographics age, sex and body mass index were recorded after taking informed written consent. Patients were aged between 20-65 years of age. Depression and anxiety were calculated in primary caregivers of patients of psychoactive substance use. Complete data was analyzed by SPSS 20.0 version.

Results: Total 85 (60.71%) patients were males and 55 (39.29%) patients were females. Mean age of the patients were 31.45 ± 9.45 years with mean BMI 24.33 ± 21.6 kg/m2. Psycoactive substance use resulted high level of depression and anxiety among the patients. 20 (14.29%) patients had mild, 40 (28.6%) showed moderate and 80 (57.14%) patients showed severe depression. Anxiety among patients was 17 (12.14%) mild, 35 (25%) moderate and 88(62.9%) patients had severe. 37 (27.14%) patients were illiterate and 103 (73.6%) patients were literate. 32 (22.9%) patients were unmarried and 108 (77.1%) patients were married. 50 (35.71%) patients were unemployed and 90 (64.29%) were employed.

Conclusion: In this study we concluded that the caregivers of psychoactive drug patients had severe depression with negative intimation in each case. Depression and anxiety is often observed in patients with SUDs. On the one hand, the occurrence of anxiety and depression is clearly linked, on the other hand, to the severity of drug related issues.

Keywords: Anxiety, Depression, Substance use, Caregivers