Family burden in opioid dependence syndrome in tertiary care centre

This is a cross-sectional, hospital based study conducted in De-Addiction centre under department of psychiatry, AIIMS, New Delhi, India. Patients and their spouses fulfilling inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study after taking informed consent. A diagnosis of Opioid Dependence Syndrome (ODS) was made based on ICD-10 criteria and the assessment of severity of ODS was determined by Addiction Severity Index (Hindi version). Subsequently the family burden, perceived by spouses was assessed using Family Burden Interview Schedule (FBIS). Most of the subjects were from urban or semi-urban areas, mostly from around the service facility. The maximum number of subjects was of age group 31-40 years with majority of having below high school level education. Both subjective and objective family burden was perceived as "severe" by subjects' spouses. The relationship between spouses' perceived burden and socio-demographic variables including duration of substance abuse were not correlated. Hence it was found that opioid dependent subjects cause considerable amount of distress to their care providers.