Gravidade da dependência química e perfil sociodemográfico dos usuários de substâncias lícitas e ilícitas do sudoeste baiano

Abstract

This dissertation follows the scientific article model. The first article is a literature review entitled as: "Users profile and characteristics of the use of illegal substances in Brazil: integrative review of the literature". Objective: to analyze articles that had as main focus the profile description of users of illegal substances and the consumption pattern in Brazil. Method: integrative review of the literature of papers found in databases of the Biblioteca Virtual de Saúde (Virtual Library of Health) and United States National Library of Medicine. Results: the final sample of seven papers revealed a higher prevalence of drug use among males. Women stand out by having a higher prevalence of use of stimulant drugs. Marijuana is the illicit drug that is the most commonly used; however crack causes greater harm on addicts¿ health. The low educational attainment, family fragility and involvement with crime are markers that intensify a cycle of socio-economical exclusion. Conclusion: Men are more susceptible to drug use, although women exhibit higher use of drugs that have lower hallucinogenic effects. The low scientific production about the subject reinforces the necessity of knowing the population of users of illegal drugs in the country. The second paper is entitled as "Socio-demographic profile and severity of chemical addiction in users of legal and illegal substances". Objectives: to describe the family/social status, economic status, demographic status and health status of drug users; to evaluate the severity of the addiction and to compare it among men and women and among the type of used drugs. Method: descriptive cross-sectional study carried out with 33 drug users, using data that were collected using the Addiction Severity Index (ASI 6). The numerical variables were presented with measure of central tendency and dispersion; the categorical ones, with absolute and relative frequency. Results: they indicate the predominance of males (81.82%), whites (54.55%), unmarried people (90.90%), with age ranging from 30 to 49 years (63.64%). The most present comorbidities were arterial hypertension, liver diseases, chronic kidney disease and seizures/epilepsies. The worst score of severity of addiction in both genders was in the domain "Family/social support", scoring 70.88 points for men and 71.16 points for women. The worst severity of symptoms was in the domain "Drugs" among crack users. Conclusion: the abuse of drugs is a problem that affects men and women with no differences in the severity degree of the addiction among them. The legislation and public policies related to the consumption control and intervention with users do not accomplish their objectives, as evidenced by the growing consumption of illegal drugs and the harm caused by the use/abuse of drugs in several areas of the addict's life. It is expected that the primary health care services promote actions of protection and tracking so as to identify and to treat the drug users since the childhood, therefore, the ASI 6 comes as an important tool for these actions