Utility of special drive campaign on substance use disorders in hard-to-reach communities in the fast urbanizing town of Solan, India

AIMS: Special drive campaigns on substance use disorders (SUDs) in India are usually organized in educational institutes, non-governmental organizations, or few selected localities. Hard to reach communities of construction, prison, and industrial sites quite often remain uncovered. MATERIALS AND METHODS: During a month-long special drive in 2019, under a cross-sectional study, we reached these communities of Solan town through awareness camps and incorporated standardized screening tools for evaluating morbidity patterns of SUDs. RESULTS: Statistically significant relationship existed between 360 participants (90.8% males, 9.2% females; mean age of 33 years) and their educational levels with χ(2) (1, n = 360) =130.59, P = 0.000. Fagerstrom's scale inferred very high nicotine dependence in 10.6%, 7.9%, and 2.4% of prisoners, industrial workers, and laborers, respectively. Whereas, Fagerstrom scale for smokeless tobacco revealed 31% of significant dependence potential amongst laborers. Alcohol use disorder identification test revealed 28 persons with harmful alcohol dependence. Drug abuse screening test revealed 13.6% of prisoners having moderate level drug abuse potential. The Kruskal–Wallis test showed a statistically significant difference, in levels and potential of substance use in construction, prison, and industrial sites. CONCLUSION: The study proved the utility of special drives in evaluating SUDs morbidity patterns in hard-to-reach communities.