The concept of addictology and addiction: the patient's point of view. A study in 90 persons followed for addiction.

The concept of addiction has gained recognition in French semantics, standi ng for a pathological condition that was formerly designated solely on the basis of specific drug abuse. We questioned 90 patients followed at there P arisian outpatient units about their understanding of the term "addiction". We also looked for signs that this term is used to federate notions since it is supposed to describe a general condition involving a large number of singular phenomena. One part of our questionnaire focused on treatment mode s (several practitioners for several addictions, one institution for all ad dictions, specialized consultations with a practitioner other than the usua l primary care physician). Our findings would illustrated areas where furth er details are needed in order to consider patient expectations when design ing specialized care for outpatients or inpatients.