Quality of life and its correlates among substance dependent subjects: A study from a tertiary care centre in northeastern part of India

Abstract

Substance Abuse is a worldwide problem that causes various sequelae, which severely affect physical 
and mental health, social and daily life. Quality of Life (QOL) is increasingly recognized as an important 
outcome measure in treatment studies and for service evaluation. This study assessed the QOL in 
Alcohol Dependent (AD) and Opioids dependent (OD) and compared the same with a control group 
(NC). It was further aimed to study the relationship between QOL and specified socio-demographic 
characteristic features across the three groups. A cross-sectional assessment of the three groups of 
subjects was made. AD and OD subjects not in active withdrawal or intoxication phase were included in 
the study, the third group included the normal controls. QOL assessment was made with the World 
Health Organization-QOL-Bref Hindi version. The comparison of the various domains in QOL was done 
by applying ANOVA test. All the domains of well-being on the basis of WHOQOL scale revealed a 
significant difference when compared to the normal controls. In order to assess the effect of socio
economic variables on the quality of life we applied the multiple linear regression analysis.  The results 
did not show any difference across the three groups. The study indicates that opioid dependent and 
alcohol dependent subjects experience a lower QOL when compared with the normal group, however 
when the opioid group was compared to the alcohol dependent group there was a lower QOL in the OD 
group. Social Support scores also had no significant effect on any domains of QOL in both the OD and 
AD groups.