THE PREVALENCE AND PATTERN OF ILLICIT DRUG USE IN A MENTAL HEALTH HOSPITAL FROM TURKEY

Substance abuse is a serious public health concern. This study aimed to examine the frequency of illicit drug use with respect to gender, age, years of substance use, and illicit psychoactive substance use pattern among persons who underwent urine drug screening in the Turkey a mental health hospital between 2015 and 2016. All of the urine samples were analyzed in the hospital’s Center Clinical Laboratory. Results of the urine drug screenings were retrospectively obtained from the laboratory information system. The prevalence of substance abuse was as follows: amphetamine/ecstasy – 615 (9.2%), cannabis – 1659 (24.8%), opiates – 602 (9.0%), cocaine -54 (0.8%), and benzodiazepine – 527 (7.9%). Cannabis and opioid use were significantly higher in males than in females (p<0.001, p<0.001). There were 719 patients who used a combination of drugs. In almost all drugs, the prevalence of abuse is higher in the <20 and 20-29 age groups than other groups. In almost every age group, cannabis was the most commonly used illicit drug, followed by amphetamine/ecstasy, opiates, benzodiazepine, and cocaine. These data indicate a high prevalence of substance use, especially in the <20 and 20-29 age groups in eastern and southeast parts of Turkey.