Substance use disorder among patients with obsessive compulsive disorder

Abstract

Obsessive compulsive disorder when couples with substance use disorder, it exhibits severe impairment in overall psychosocial functioning of an individual. The purpose of the present study was to determine the proportion of substance use disorder and its associated factors among patients with obsessive compulsive disorder. This cross-sectional study was carried out in National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Dhaka from January 2021 to December 2021. Total of 150 patients with OCD attended at outpatient and inpatient departments of the institute were chosen conveniently after fulfilling selection criteria. A pretested printed semi-structured questionnaire containing socio-demographic variables and a printed Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) English version 7.0.0 was applied for data collection. Data was collected by face-to-face interview with pen and paper method and analyzed by SPSS version 25.0. Lifetime use of substance was found among 14.7% individuals and among them, majority (68.2%) respondents used alcohol followed by cannabis (63.6%). About 5.3% respondents used substance currently and highest (62.5%) participants among them used cannabis. Among the participants, 4.0% and 2.0% had substance use disorder (non-alcohol) and alcohol use disorder respectively. Curiosity (45.5%) was the most common reason for substance use followed by peer pressure (22.8%) and coping with OCD symptoms (9.1%). Statistically significant association of substance use disorder was found with gender (p=0.010), religion (p=0.020) and education (p=0.045). The finding of various substance use disorders among OCD patients and factors associated with substance use disorder warrants appropriate screening of substance history of OCD patients and future epidemiological studies regarding it. Bang J Psychiatry 2024; 38(1): 7-12