Spectrum of medical and social problems in the female opium addicts

Abstract

Aim

The work was initiated to study peculiarities of medical and social problems of the female opium addiction.

Materials and methods

We examined 56 female opiate addicts aged from 18 to 56 (mean age 31.8 ± 1.09 years) hospitalized at the tertiary detox center (Tashkent). Twenty of the examinees (35.7%) were managed for the first time, 36 patients (64.3%) being treated iteratively.

Results and discussion

Seventeen women were employed, only three of them were working in their specialization. Thirty-nine patients were either unemployed or engaged in the unskilled labor, that is, the one being out of tune with their education level. Eight examinees served penal servitudes, eleven women being detained without imprisonment. The findings reflect disorders in social adaptation of the most examinees. Drug addiction onset time varied from 19 to 25 years (22.1 ± 1.12 years in the average), but the age range from 20 to 23 was the most frequent one. Duration of episodic taking ranged from 1 month to 2.5 years (2.4 ± 0.7 months in the average). In 10 patients (20%) withdrawal syndrome has formed rapidly, in 1–2 months. Drug dose is partially associated with a patient's ability to pay and heroin accessibility.

Almost half of our 56 examinees had drug using husband, cohabitant or sex partner. Quality of remissions was found to greatly depend on a drug using sex partner.

Conclusions

Medical and social consequences of the female drug addiction are quite severe to mention early psycho-social disadaptation, prostitution and illegal actions, including thefts, document forgery, drug pushing.

Disclosure of interest

The author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.