Prevalence of psychiatric and physical comorbidities in patients diagnosed with opioid use disorder (OUD) in Lanarkshire, Scotland. 2018-2019: cross-sectional study

Background: Substance use disorder (SUD) is a medical disorder in which patients chronically use, misuse, abuse or become dependent on different substances (drugs) including alcohol, cannabinoids, cocaine, opioids, including heroin, and others. When the substance being used is an opioid this can be classed as opioid use disorder (OUD). Several studies have been conducted to raise information about psychiatric and physical comorbidities in OUD patients. Information regarding the prevalence of comorbidities in patients with OUD in UK is limited. The majority of these studies have focused on respiratory disorders. Objectives: the objectives are to describe overall patients’ characteristics and to estimate the prevalence of physical and psychiatric comorbidities according to the patient’s gender and age. Methods: The study is based on data collected by community addition team in NHS Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom. Participated in this study are 521 patients who are receiving different Opioid Agonist Treatments (OAT) such as methadone or buprenorphine. The data was collected by a single appointment face-to-face interview using the Recovery Plan Review sheet. Key findings: The majority of the sample were male patients (60.8%). The average age was 42.7 years. The psychiatric disorders presented as 38.2% (108 cases) in the sample. Regarding the physical disorders, the most common were the respiratory disorders 21.9% (62 cases) and cardiovascular disorders 8.5% (24 cases). Others disorders formed as 31.4% (89 cases). As a result, females presented a slightly higher proportion of comorbidities than male (p-value = 0.2). Regarding age, the total disorders was more prevalent in older age group (40 yrs+)(61.5%) rather than younger age group (20 – 39 years) (49.2%)(P-value<0.0001). Conclusion: The study highlights the prevalence and importance of diagnosis and treatment of these comorbidity in this population. Future research is needed to develop a greater understanding about factors associated with SUD and these comorbidities.