Differences in alcohol and cannabis use amongst substance use disorder patients with and without comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

BACKGROUND

Substance use disorders (SUDs) continue to be a public health problem. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is seen as a risk factor for SUD. Prevalence of alcohol and cannabis use amongst adults with SUD and comorbid ADHD impacts both disorders cognitively and behaviourally.

AIM

Our study aimed to compare alcohol and cannabis use between treatment-seeking SUD patients with ADHD and SUD patients without ADHD symptomatology.

SETTING

Various rehabilitation centres, including the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (SANCA) Centres, and Private and Provincial Government Substance Abuse Treatment Centres.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study of adults on drug rehabilitation was conducted. Data on socio-demographic information and alcohol and cannabis use from 185 post-detox inpatients were collected. Diagnoses were based on DSM-IV criteria. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnosis was confirmed by the Diagnostic-Interview for ADHD in Adults (DIVA 2.0). SUD+ADHD ( = 52) and SUD-ADHD ( = 128) groups were compared on alcohol and cannabis use as a function of gender.

RESULTS

No significant differences in the use of alcohol between the SUD+ADHD and SUD-ADHD groups were found. However, the SUD+ADHD group showed increased cannabis consumption. Especially, the SUD+ADHD females showed an earlier age of onset of cannabis use than the SUD-ADHD females and revealed that they use cannabis for a longer period compared with the SUD-ADHD females and SUD+ADHD and SUD-ADHD males.

CONCLUSION

The results revealed the relationship between ADHD and cannabis use, especially amongst females with ADHD and reinforce the need to consider ADHD in cannabis use SUD in clinical interventions.