Campagni Cosimo, Gorini Giuseppe, Amerio Andrea, Cerrai Sonia, Gallus Silvano, Lugo Alessandra, Mastrobattista Luisa, Mortali Claudia, Odone Anna, Stival Chiara, Carreras Giulia
Istituto per lo Studio, la Prevenzione e la Rete Oncologica, Florence, Italy.
Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Riabilitazione, Oftalmologia, Genetica e Scienze Materno-Infantili, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genoa, Italy.
Ann Ist Super Sanita. 2024 Oct-Dec;60(4):294-302. doi: 10.4415/ANN_24_04_08.
Psychoactive substance use is largely found to involve multiple substances. In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed psychoactive substance use patterns. Aim of this study is to investigate profiles of polysubstance and their pattern during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
We collected information on alcohol consumption, use of tobacco, cannabis and other psychotropic substances, and nicotine-containing electronic devices (NCEDs; i.e., heated tobacco products and electronic cigarettes) on representative samples of the Italian adult population in five surveys from 2020 to 2023 (3,000≤n≤6,600). We used a Latent Class Analysis model to identify substance use profiles and their associated variables in each time period.
We initially identified two profiles, "light users", characterized by a low use of tobacco and NCEDs (3%-20%) and a 40% at-risk alcohol consumption, and "polysubstance users", characterized by a large use of all psychoactive substances. After the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, we also found the "dual users" profile, which show a large use of tobacco (90%) and NCEDs (50%), and also alcohol (50%). Being "dual users" and "polysubstance users" were associated with younger age and high economic status, with strengths of association less pronounced during lockdown but more marked immediately thereafter. Moreover, reporting anxiety or depressive symptoms as well as using psychotropic drugs were strongly associated with both profiles, especially in the last two years.
Heterogeneity of polysubstance users and their socio-demographic characteristics need to be considered to design tailored prevention interventions, with special attention to the new "dual users" profile, which confirmed the increasing trend in NCED use.
人们发现使用精神活性物质大多涉及多种物质。近年来，新冠疫情改变了精神活性物质的使用模式。本研究的目的是调查新冠疫情期间及之后多物质使用情况及其模式。
我们在2020年至2023年的五次调查中，收集了意大利成年人口代表性样本中关于酒精消费、烟草、大麻及其他精神药物使用，以及含尼古丁电子设备（即加热烟草制品和电子烟）的信息（3000≤n≤6600）。我们使用潜在类别分析模型来确定每个时间段的物质使用情况及其相关变量。
我们最初确定了两种类型，“轻度使用者”，其特点是烟草和含尼古丁电子设备的使用率较低（3%-20%），有40%的人存在危险饮酒行为；以及“多物质使用者”，其特点是所有精神活性物质的使用率都很高。在2020年新冠疫情封锁之后，我们还发现了“双重使用者”类型，其表现为大量使用烟草（90%）和含尼古丁电子设备（50%），同时也大量饮酒（50%）。成为“双重使用者”和“多物质使用者”与年轻和高经济地位相关，这种关联强度在封锁期间不太明显，但之后立即变得更加显著。此外，报告焦虑或抑郁症状以及使用精神药物与这两种类型都密切相关，尤其是在过去两年。
在设计针对性的预防干预措施时，需要考虑多物质使用者的异质性及其社会人口学特征，特别要关注新出现的“双重使用者”类型，这证实了含尼古丁电子设备使用的增加趋势。
