Prevalence of Psychoactive Substance use and its Contributing Factors among Patients Admitted into the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Benin City: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Background: Psychoactive substance abuse is proliferating public health and social problem that leads to negative multidimensional impact, especially among the youths. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of psychoactive substance use and its associated factors among patients admitted between 2015-2020 into federal neuropsychiatric hospital, Uselu, Benin City, Nigeria. Methodology: A descriptive retrospective survey design was adopted. A validated profoma was used to audit the record of the inpatients admitted between the years under review. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics at 5% level of significance. Result: Result showed that the overall prevalence of psychoactive substance abuse was 62.2% and was more in males (59.9%) than in females (3.2%). Among the 11 substances, Cannabis (73.2%), Alcohol (9.9%), Opioid (5.4%) were the most commonly used. The most common factors affecting substance abuse were friends/peer group (56.3%), Fun/party (26.2%), and inherent family use (5.5%). A statistically significant difference existed between substance abuse and gender (p<0.05). Multiple logistic regression showed that male are two times (OR = 1.86, CI = 0.343-2.159) more likely to abuse psychoactive substances than females. Respondents between 21-30 years are twice (OR = 0.06, CI = 0.000-0.114; p 0.001) more likely abuse psychoactive substance than others. Conclusions: Substance abuse is a significant problem in this generation and continues to rise considerably. Alcohol, cannabis, codeine, tramadol, tobacco, and caffeine have been found to be the most commonly abuse. It is recommended that a routine screening policy be put in place to identify substance use in all patients admitted to the hospital for psychiatric reasons. This should become a critical component of mental health delivery.