Drug dependence in adolescents 1978-2003: a clinical-based observation from North India

To study the demographic and clinical profile of adolescent subjects (< or =18 yr) presenting to a state-funded drug de-addiction centre in north India.

Data on demographic and clinical features were extracted from available case notes of adolescent patients who presented to the centre during 1978-2003 (n=85).

Many adolescents came from nuclear family (63.5%), of urban background (83.5%) and were school dropouts (54.1%). Mean age-at-first-use of the primary substance was 14.8 yr and mean age at first presentation was 17 yr. The commonest used primary class of substance was opioids (76.2%) and the commonest used opioid was heroin (36.5%). More than half of the subjects (54.2%) were also nicotine dependent at the time of presentation. The most common reason for starting the use of drugs was curiosity (78.8%). About one-fifth (21.2%) of the subjects indulged in high-risk behaviour such as having sexual intercourse with multiple sexual partners. Nearly half of the subjects had positive family history of either drug dependence (40.2%) or psychiatric disorder (5.5%).

The results suggest that the development of substance dependence in children and adolescents is a combination of familial and social vulnerability factors, including the drug culture of the social milieu.