Risk factors for substance use disorders among inpatients with major affective disorders in Taiwan Chinese

An assessment of potential risk factors for substance use disorders was per formed in 49 patients with major affective disorders in a general hospital acute care unit in Taiwan. The major depression patients were noted to have a higher prevalence of substance use disorder than bipolar disorder patien ts (p = 0.011). Those patients with substance use disorders were noted to b e significantly male-predominated (p = 0.043), to have a later onset age of affective disorder (p = 0.009), and to have move visits to the emergency r oom in the recent one year (p = 0.009). The sedatives-hypnotics-anxiolytics was the most frequently used forms of drug abuse. The major depression pat ients had a significantly higher sedative-hypnotics-anxiolytics use disorde r rate than the bipolar disorder patients (p = 0.001). All patients with al cohol use disorder were noted to have other substance use disorders as well . Fifty six percent of those patients with substance use disorder were poly -substance users. Eighty three percent of the male patients with substance use disorder had poly-substance use disorder. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc .