Detailed contribution information
| Contribution title | 3421 - Cannabis and other illegal drug use in adolescent psychiatric inpatients |
|---|---|
| Contribution code | PS01-39 (P) |
| Authors | |
| Form of presentation | Poster |
| Topic |
|
| Abstract |
Introduction: It is well accepted, that using drugs affects mental health and influences treatment for mental disorders. It may cause mental health to deteriorate, influence the compliance with the proposed treatment, the decisions of the treatment team and jeopardise the wellbeing of other inpatients. The aim of the present study was to assess the correlations between illegal drug use and various tretament features in adolescent psychiatric inpatients. Methods: Retrospective chart review was performed for patients admitted to an open inpatient psychiatric department between May 2015 and May 2016. Various factors were compared between the patients who ever used drugs (U) and the patients who never did (NU). The factors observed were age, gender, drug use (cannabis, opiates, cocaine, nonprescribed benzodiazepines), length of stay, number of admissions, nonsuicidal self-injurious behavior (NSSI), number of suicide attempts, cooperation with social services, cooperation with the police and ICD-10 diagnoses. Results: Ninety four different patients were admitted, their average age was 16.9 years (14-22 years), 72.3% were female, 30.9% have ever used drugs. Cannabis was the most commonly abused illegal drug, abused by all the U patients, cocaine and opiates were also abused by one of these patients each. Average lenght of stay for the NU was 62.3 days, as compared to 51.0 days for the U. The U were more frequently male, engaged in attempted suicide and NSSI, managed in cooperation with the police and social services. They more frequently received main diagnoses from the clusters F10-F19, F20-F29 and F60-F69; and less frequently from F30-F39, F40-F49, F50-F59, F80-F89 and F90-F99. The differences were statistically significant only for the cooperation with the police (p< 0.001). Conclusions: The results show a trend towards more frequent drug use in the male adolescent psychiatric population, who are more frequently admitted for psychotic disorders and not emotional or anxiety spectrum, and to more frequent inclusion of the police and shorter in-hospital stay in the management of these patients. There is an urgent need for sub-specialized treatment programs for adolescents with these co-morbidities. |