Family burden in injecting versus noninjecting opioid users

BACKGROUND: A substance-dependent person in the family affects almost all aspects of family life that also impact the lives of the significant others and causes enormous burden. OBJECTIVES: This study was aimed to assess the pattern of burden borne by the family caregivers of patients with opioid-dependence-injecting drug users (IDU) and noninjecting drug users (NIDU). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with ICD-10 diagnosed-opioid-dependent subjects (IDU and NIDU, N = 40 in each group) and their family caregivers attending a de-addiction centre at a multispecialty teaching hospital in North India. Family Burden interview schedule was used to assess the pattern of burden borne by the family caregivers. RESULTS: The IDU group was characterized by older age, longer duration of substance dependence, greater subjective and objective family burden in all the areas compared to NIDU group, and single status and unemployment were associated with severe objective burden. The family burden was associated neither with age, education, or duration of dependence of the patients, nor with family size, type of caregiver or caregiver's education in either group. CONCLUSION: All caregivers reported a moderate or severe burden, which indicates the significance and need for further work in this area.