Association between severity of illicit drug dependence and quality of life in a psychosocial care center in BRAZIL: cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Quality of life must be one of the main purposes for the treatment of drug users, requiring a better understanding of the association between the quality of life and the severity of dependency. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between severity of substance use in various areas of human functioning and quality of life of illicit drug users in a psychosocial care center for alcohol and drugs. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 60 participants – illicit drug users – treated at a psychosocial care center for alcohol and drugs. Participants were evaluated with the short version of World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-Bref) instrument to measure the quality of life, the 6th version of Addiction Severity Index (ASI-6) to assess the severity of dependence in several areas and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) to identify the presence of psychiatric disorders. Pearson and Spearman correlation tests and linear regression were applied to verify the association between the severity of dependence and the quality of life, and Student’s t-test to compare the mean quality of life between individuals with and without psychiatric comorbidities. RESULTS: Negative correlation was found between the severity of dependence on the drugs dimensions: alcohol, psychiatric, medical, legal, family/social support and family/social problems of ASI-6, and the quality of life domains measured by the WHOQOL-Bref. The evidence was strongest in the psychiatric and medical dimensions. There was a significant difference in the quality of life mean among participants presenting or not presenting psychiatric comorbidities, for the psychological domain in anxiety disorders, and for the physical and psychological domains in mood disorders. CONCLUSION: The quality of life decreased as the severity of dependence increased, with different results in the various areas of the participant’s life. This result emphasizes the need for training the professional team which works in the substance use disorders area for more comprehensive diagnostic evaluations and more appropriate therapeutic interventions for each area. The associations were more evident in the medical and psychiatric fields, indicating the need for greater attention to be paid in relation to medical and psychiatric comorbidities. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12955-017-0795-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.