Treatment Seeking Behavior of Inhalant Using Street Children: Are We Prepared to Meet Their Treatment Needs

Context:

There is a lack of evidence for help and treatment seeking behavior of street children using inhalants.

Aims:

The present study was planned to provide a comprehensive understanding on the patterns, correlates of inhalant use and treatment seeking behavior of street children from Delhi, India.

Material and Methods:

Participants were a purposive sample of 100 inhalant using street children below 18 years identified with the assistance of five community service organizations/nongovernmental organization working with street children in the city of Delhi. Information on a semi-structured questionnaire with items pertaining to the demographic and drug use parameters was collected by trained research staff in a one-to-one in field setting.

Statistical Analysis:

All data were entered into SPSS 12.0, data quality checks performed and examined.

Results:

The sample had an average age of 12.8 ± 2.4 years (range 4-17 years), 96.5% reported regular past month and 87.0% past 24 h use of inhalants. The mean age of onset of inhalant use was 9.3 ± 2.8 years The substances most commonly reported were toluene from eraser fluid (by 83.0%), glues (34.0%) and petroleum products (3.0%); mean frequency of use was 9.8 times in a day. Of the sample, 18% used inhalants when they were alone, and the rest reported using with drug using network friends; 76% reported tolerance and mild withdrawal symptoms such as restlessness, anxiety, craving, irritability and lethargy. A variety of problems and perceived benefits due to inhalant use were reported; 46% inhalant users had never abstained from its use, and 77% reported never having sought any medical help.

Conclusions:

Study findings provide a better contemporary understanding of inhalant abuse among Delhi street children. This information can assist in the formulation of a needs-based intervention for the inhalant using street children.

Table 1

Drugs used by street children (n = 100)

Table 2

Pattern of inhalant use

  

Table 3

Perceived benefits and problems experienced due to inhalant use

Table 4

Treatment seeking behavior

Full article at:  http://goo.gl/yCkGRx

By:   Anju Dhawan, Anita Chopra,1 Atul Ambekar,1 and Rajat Ray1

Department of Psychiatry, AIIMS, New Delhi, India

¹National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi, India

Address for correspondence: Prof. Anju Dhawan Department of Psychiatry, National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, AIIMS, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India. E-mail: moc.liamtoh@hdujna

 

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Alcohol Use Disorder Severity and Reported Reasons Not To Seek Treatment: A Cross-Sectional Study in European Primary Care Practices

Below:  Probabilities of reporting reasons for not seeking treatment, predicted by alcohol use disorder severity. Severity of alcohol use disorders in the past 12 months ranged from sub threshold (reference) to severe as defined by DSM-5. Predictions are based on multinomial logistic regression. Reasons are grouped by Saunders' theoretical framework. 95 % confidence intervals are indicated

Below:  Theoretical framework of the treatment seeking process as suggested by (Saunders et al. [17]). Each step in the process of seeking treatment for an alcohol use disorder is related to specific reasons for not seeking treatment. Reprinted from Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 30 (3), Saunders, Zygowicz, & D'Angelo, Person-related and treatment-related barriers to alcohol treatment, p. 261–270, © 2006, with permission from ELSEVIER

Of 1,008 patients diagnosed with an alcohol use disorder (via general practitioner or patient interview) in the past 12 months, the majority (N = 810) did not receive treatment and 251 of those gave a reason for not seeking treatment. The most frequent reason was ‘lack of problem awareness’ (55.3 % of those who responded), the second most common response was ‘stigma or shame’ (28.6 %), followed by ‘encounter barriers’ (22.8 %) and ‘cope alone’ (20.9 %). The results indicated lower probabilities of reporting ‘denial’ and higher probabilities to report ‘encounter barriers’ as alcohol use disorders severity increases. However, both trends were discontinued for patients with severe alcohol use disorders.

Particularly at lower levels of alcohol use disorder severity, a lack of problem awareness prevents patients from seeking treatment. Routinely alcohol consumption monitoring in primary care practices could help primary and secondary prevention of alcohol use disorders and increase treatment coverage.

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