Dual diagnosis in a Dublin tertiary addiction centre - A cross-sectional study

To address the relative dearth of information relating to the prevalence of psychiatric co-morbidity among attenders of community addiction facilities.

We carried out a cross-sectional study of clients attending a Dublin-based tertiary addiction centre to assess the rates of psychiatric co-morbidity, determine the demographic and clinical variables and evaluate the level of contact with allied medical care especially primary care and community psychiatric services. Information was sourced from available patient records.

Forty-three per cent of the clients (n = 59), attending the service were found to have a chart diagnosis of psychiatric disorder. Only 15% of these were in contact with community psychiatric services.

This high rate of psychiatric co-morbidity has implications in terms of funding, training and service delivery.