Inhalant dependence: data from a tertiary care center in South India

This study aims to understand the sociodemographic and clinical profile of inhalant abusers seeking treatment from a tertiary care psychiatric hospital in South India.

The clinical charts of patients who utilized the psychiatric services of a tertiary care center in India for over 10 years were examined for the study.

The sample had an urban predominance, was mostly unemployed, and was all male. Most of them had an adolescent age of onset of inhalant use (mean - 16.23 years). All patients reported the use of volatile solvents as inhalants. One other substance dependence was identified in more than half of the sample. The psychiatric comorbidity included psychosis and depression. A comparison was made between patients who presented with inhalant dependence only (I) and inhalant-dependent individuals who also used other psychoactive substances apart from nicotine (IP). The inhalant-only group (I) had an earlier mean age at onset of substance use as compared to the IP group. All patients in the I group reported withdrawal symptoms compared to 77% of patients in the (IP) group (P=0.048). The IP group reported a significantly higher occurrence of aggression (54.5 vs. 19%, P=0.02), externalizing symptoms (77.3 vs. 42.9%, P=0.03), and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (50 vs. 14.3%, P=0.02).

Inhalant dependence is a serious health problem in adolescent subjects and is associated with high comorbidity of other substance dependence, psychiatric disorder, and externalizing spectrum disorder. There is a need for community-based prospective studies in this area from India.