Avasthi Ajit, Basu Debasish, Subodh B N, Gupta Pramod K, Malhotra Nidhi, Rani Poonam, Sharma Sunil
Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Department of Biostatistics, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Indian J Psychiatry. 2017 Jul-Sep;59(3):284-292. doi: 10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_327_16.
Substance misuse is a matter of major public health concern in India. House-to-house survey, though an appealing method to generate population-level estimates, has limitations for estimating prevalence rates of use of illicit and rare substances.
In this rapid assessment survey (RAS), respondent-driven sampling was used to recruit substance-using individuals from the field. Size of the substance-using population was estimated using the "benchmark-multiplier" method. This figure was then projected to the entire population of the Union Territory (U.T) of Chandigarh. Focused group discussions were used to study the perceptions and views of the substance users regarding various aspects of substance use.
Prevalence of any substance dependence in the U.T of Chandigarh was estimated to be 4.65%. Dependence rates on opioids, cannabinoids, and sedative hypnotics were found to be 1.53%, 0.52%, and 0.015%, respectively. Prevalence of injectable opioids was calculated to be 0.91%. Injectable buprenorphine was the most commonly used opioid, followed by bhukhi/doda/opium and heroin. A huge gap was found between the prevalence rates of substance-using population and those seeking treatment.
RAS can be a useful method to determine the prevalence of illicit and rare substances. Our survey shows that the use of substance including that of opioids is highly prevalent in the U.T of Chandigarh. The findings of this survey can have implications for policymaking.
药物滥用是印度主要的公共卫生问题。逐户调查虽然是一种获取人群层面估计数据的有吸引力的方法，但在估计非法和罕见药物使用率方面存在局限性。
在本次快速评估调查（RAS）中，采用应答者驱动抽样从实地招募药物使用个体。使用“基准乘数”方法估计药物使用人群的规模。然后将该数字推算至昌迪加尔联合属地（U.T）的整个人口。采用焦点小组讨论来研究药物使用者对药物使用各个方面的认知和看法。
昌迪加尔联合属地中任何药物依赖的患病率估计为4.65%。阿片类药物、大麻素和镇静催眠药的依赖率分别为1.53%、0.52%和0.015%。注射用阿片类药物的患病率计算为0.91%。注射用丁丙诺啡是最常用的阿片类药物，其次是布基/多达/鸦片和海洛因。发现药物使用人群的患病率与寻求治疗的人群患病率之间存在巨大差距。
快速评估调查（RAS）可以是确定非法和罕见药物患病率的有用方法。我们的调查表明，包括阿片类药物在内的药物使用在昌迪加尔联合属地非常普遍。本次调查结果可能对政策制定产生影响。
