مطالعه مقدماتي شيوع سوج مصرف مواد در مناطق روستايي غرب استان تهران (هشتگرد و طالقان ) با استفاده از افراد كليدي

Preliminary study on the prevalence of substance abuse in the rural areas of the west of Tehran province (Hashtgerd and Taleghan) using key persons

Introduction: This research was performed with the aim of determining the prevalence of substance abuse in the rural areas of the west of Tehran province (Hashtgerd and Taleghan) using the keypersons (i. e. mental health workers) and evaluating the reliability and the efficacy of this method. Methods: This epidemiological study was conducted in two phases, the pilot and the main phases. The population consisted of all the residents above the age of 15 in the Hashtgerd and Taleghan towns (with the population of 83632) which were under the coverage of 65 health houses and 125 Behvarzes. In the pilot study, two towns were randomly studied and in the main phase all of the families receiving services from the health houses were included in the study. To ensure the specificity, sensitivity and efficacy of this method and to identify substance abusers, 300 individuals (100 substance abusers and 200 non abusers) were randomly selected and evaluated by a psychiatrist. The instruments consisted of a checklist used by mental health workers to identify substance abusers and a clinical interview schedule based on DSM-IV. Data were analysed using descriptive statistical methods and i test. Results: Results showed that the sensitivity, specificity and effectiveness of using key persons in identifying substance abusers were 95%, 99% and 98%, respectively. The results also showed that 1) the prevalence of substance abuse among the population above the age of 15 years old in the region was 3.51%, 2) the most common substances of abuse among the identified drug abusers were opium (94.4%), combination of opium and hashish (1.9%), and combination of opium and heroin (1.1 %) and 3) there were significant relationships between demographic variables (age, sex, marital status, and education) and substance abuse. Most of the substance abusers were male (96.2%), married (84.4%) and between the ages of 31 to 50 years (55.5%). They were either illitrate or had middle school level of education (87%). Conclusion: The findings indicated that this method could be used reliably and effectively in similar studies to identify; substance users.