Imtiaz Ahmad Dogar, Ijaz Akhtar, Muhammad Sohail Ali.
Drug abuse; changing patterns in Pakistan.
Professional Med J Jan ;12(1):91-8.

Background: Drug abuse is one of the major problems facing the world today. Care providers and clinicians are faced with ever changing patterns of drug abuse and hence need to stay abreast of the latest developments. Research in this area in Pakistan is direly needed. Aims: This study was undertaken with an idea of collecting basic data to assess the extent and variety of drug abuse in patients presenting to the researchers, and to assess the changes during a five-year interval. Design of study: Non-interventional comparative study. Setting: Department of Psychiatry, District Headquarters Hospital, Faisalabad. Period: From1996 to 2001. Materials & Methods: The sample consisted of patients admitted for treatment in the years 1996 & 2001. Statistical analysis was carried out using the software package SSPS utilizing tests such as the chi square and student`s t-test. Results: In this department, drug abuse is more frequently reported among urban, literate, married males during young adulthood. Tobacco and cannabis are most frequently reported. Sex, curiosity and peer pressure are the main motivations involved in starting drug abuse. Besides these stable findings, some changes have occurred during five years; polydrug abuse has become more frequent and the socioeconomic status of this patient group is deteriorating. Conclusions: The problem of drug abuse is still rampant, if not increasing with time. The patterns of drug abuse are becoming more complicated, posing new challenges for health care planners and providers. More research needs to be undertaken in this area.

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