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Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems: 2004, 06, 3 (pages: 27 - 32)

Unreported double frequency of heroin addicts visiting psychiatric services and addiction treatment services

Lovrecic M., Lovrecic B., Dernovsek M. Z., Tavcar R., Maremmani I.

Summary: The aim of this chart review was to find out the extent of unreported double frequency (UDF) and characteristics of patients. A total of 37 patients with heroin addiction who were treated simultaneously in both services (Mental Health Service [MHS] and Centre for Prevention and Treatment of Illegal Drug Addiction [CPT]) in the last 10 years (the period during which the two services have coexisted) were identified. Patients were interviewed and case records were analyzed. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected and the AbSo instrument was used. Factor analysis was used to identify clusters of symptoms reported by patients and models of drug prescription in patients receiving or not receiving methadone. Lastly we studied Pearson's correlation between identified symptomatological factors and identified models of drug prescription. In two thirds of our patients in the MHS, drug addiction was not recognized at first consultation. Patients tended to deny their drug-related problems and methadone maintenance. Depressive symptoms and anxiety were the features most commonly found in our sample, while psychotic symptoms were rare. There was poor cooperation between general psychiatric and addiction services, which led to addiction being underdiagnosed and withdrawal symptoms being mistreated.