A survey to determine motivating factors to quit opioids in treatment seekers at a tertiary care hospital

Objective: to determine the frequency of different motivating factors to quit opioid use. methods: the descriptive,cross-sectional study was conducted at the department of psychiatry and behavioural sciences,jinnah postgraduate medical centre,karachi,from august 2012 to february 2013,and comprised opioid users. demographic data was collected through a semi-structured questionnaire whereas motivational factor was assessed through a self-designed proforma. a motivational factor questionnaire was developed after a pilot study. in this questionnaire,different intrinsic and extrinsic factors were categorised into four types,i.e. biological,psychological,social and religious factors. spss 17 was used for data analysis. results: of the 157 participants,148(94.3%) were males and 9(5.7%) were females. the overall mean age was 31.83±8.99 years (range: 14-57 years). the mean age of onset of using opioids was 25.79±7.17 years (range: 13-40 years). the mean duration of using opioids was 5.29±3.72 years (range: 1-20 years). besides,141(90%) patients were under the age of 45 years. strong social factors included feeling of inability to care for family among 122(77.7%) participants,embarrassment in society 107(68.2%),and family pressure by parents/ spouse/ children 94(59.9%). conclusion: family and social factors were found to be the main source of motivation for a person to quit substance abuse. © 2017,pakistan medical association. all rights reserved.