Özet:

Objective: Substance use disorders (SUD) are chronic, relapsing disorders in which compulsive behaviors persist despite severe negative consequences. SUD is frequent among patients with ADHD and ADHD is frequent among patients with SUD. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of ADHD among patients with substance abuse/dependence according to DSM-IV TR retrospectively, and to demonstrate whether the diagnosis of ADHD is associated with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of these patients. Method:We analyzed the medical records of 485 patients. All participants were diagnosed as having alcohol or substance abuse/dependence.Socio-demographic and data regarding clinical characteristics were derived from patient records. Results: Of the included 395 participants, 37 (9.4%) were female and 358 (90.6%) were male. The mean age was 31.53±10.44 years. Comorbid ADHD was diagnosed among 82 (20.8%) of all participants. The mean age in ADHD group was significantly lower than that of the group without ADHD (27.10± [7.87] versus 32.69± [10.73], p<0.05).Also, rate of remission was significantly lower in the group without ADHD (%48.8 vs. %33.2, p<0.05). Cannabis and derivatives abuse/dependence were found to be higher in the group with ADHD, whereas alcohol or multidrug abuse/dependence were higher in the group without ADHD comorbidity (p<0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, we found that in the majority of the participants with ADHD had their diagnosis after the substance use problems had developed. This finding suggests that ADHD can be underdiagnosed in adults and we should be aware of this diagnosis.

Anahtar Kelimeler: