Patterns of Substance Use Disorders and Associated Co-occurring Psychiatric Morbidity among Patients Seen at the Psychiatric Unit of a Tertiary Health Center

Background: understanding the pattern of co-occurring mental illness in patients with substance use disorders (suds) is essential in improving the prevention and treatment of substance use-related problems. this study examined the pattern of suds, the associated co-occurring psychiatric morbidities, and associated factors among patients with suds managed at a tertiary health center. methods: the records of patients who presented with suds between 2010 and 2019 were examined. socio-demographics of interest were extracted from case files. substance use diagnoses, as well as associated co-occurring mental illness, were extracted and entered into spss software. bivariate analyses including the risk of developing co-occurring mental disorder were calculated. findings: for most patients, the initiation of substance use was before the age of 21 years, while the onset of suds was between 21-30 years. cannabis use disorders (cuds), alcohol use disorders (auds), and nicotine use disorders (nuds) were the commonest suds. compared with those with cuds, non-users of cannabis were significantly less likely to develop co-occurring mental illness [odds ratio (or) = 0.25, 95% confidence interval (ci) =0.13-0.42, p = 0.001]. those with tramadol use disorders (or = 2.13, 95% ci = 1.03-4.41, p = 0.040) and those without pentazocine use disorders (p = 0.003) were more likely to have a comorbid mental illness. patients with auds (p = 0.001), cuds (p = 0.001), nuds (p = 0.001), and tramadol use disorders (p = 0.045) were significantly more likely to be multiple substance users. conclusion: results suggest an association between suds and co-occurring mental illness, though differences in these associations were noticed across the categories of substances. this emphasizes a holistic approach to prevention and care of patients presenting with suds.