Spiritual Well-Being and Associated Factors with Relapse in Opioid Addicts

Opioid dependence relapse is a complex and multidimensional problem, and lack of spiritual well-being is a major concern in opioid addicts.

This study was conducted to determine spiritual well-being and factors associated with relapse among opioid addicts.

This cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2015 to September 2015. According to purposive sampling, 312 eligible addicted patients were enrolled in the study. The patients had at least an attempt of detoxification in the past six months and referred to an outpatient detoxification clinic in Shahrekord (Southwest, Iran). They completed Paloutzian and Ellison's Spiritual Well-being Scale. A researcher-developed questionnaire consisting of demographic characteristics and 20 questions about associated factors with relapse was administered. Data were analysed by version 16.0 (SPSS Inc.,Chicago, IL) using one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation test, chi-square, Friedman test, and student's t-test.

The most important factors associated with opioid dependence relapse consist of relation with an addict friend, unemployment, living expenses, family conflicts, and somatic pain. In the present study, 157 patients had never experienced relapse while the mean of relapse in the rest participants was (3.25±1.53) times. Furthermore, the addicted patients with relapse had significantly lower scores of spiritual well-being and its subscales compared with non-relapse patients (p<0.001).

The findings of the present study indicate the necessity of paying attention to spiritual well-being, family and economical, personal, and occupational factors as crucial factors in opiate addiction relapse.