Sociodemographic and Clinical Characteristics of Adolescent Patients Treated in ÇEMATEM With the Diagnosis of Substance Use Disorders: Bursa Sample

Abstract

Objectives: It’s aimed to increase the knowledge by examining the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and substance use trends of adolescent patients who were hospitalized for substance use disorder in the inpatient clinic of the Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Center. Materials and Methods: The files of male adolescent patients, hospitalized in the inpatient clinic of Bursa Yüksek İhtisas Training and Research Hospital Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Center between 2014 and 2019 due to a diagnosis of substance use disorder, were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Two hundred 50 male adolescent patients who were hospitalized with the diagnosis of substance use disorder between 2014 and 2019 were evaluated. The average age of the patients was found to be 16.24±1.05 years and the average age at starting substance use was 12.83±1.86 years. It was determined that multiple substance use was high with the rate of 80% (n=200), the most preferred substances were synthetic cannabinoids with the rate of 36.7% (n=90) and synthetic stimülants with the rate of 35.1% (n=86). It was found that 44.4% of the patients (n=111) started substance use with volatile solvents, 89.6% (n=224) smoked and 71.6% (n=179) drank alcohol and it was determined that 83.2% (n=208) of the patients had deliberate self-harming behaviors, 62.4% (n=156) had conduct disorder, and 29.2% (n=73) had anxiety disorder comorbidity. Conclusion: According to the data of the study, it was determined that the use of multiple substances was high in adolescents with a diagnosis of substance use disorder, synthetic cannabinoids were mostly used as the preferred substance and the first substance use was mostly started with volatile solvents. It is thought that deliberate self-harm behaviors, smoking, alcohol use and diagnosis of conduct disorder may accompany frequently. This study constitutes only the sample of patients receiving inpatient treatment. Multi-center long follow-up studies on substance use disorders in adolescents will guide our knowledge.