MEDICOLEGAL ASPECTS OF “SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS” AMONG EGYPTIAN PATIENTS ADMITTED AT THE INSTITUTE OF PSYCHIATRY–AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS
Sally Magdy Nashed1, Hanan Hamed Moustafa1, Amany Haroun El Rasheed2, Rania Moustafa Hadhoud1* 1Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine Ain Shams University
2Institute of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine-Ain Shams University
Drug abuse and crime are strongly linked together; people die every year due to violence while under the influence of drugs. This study aimed to investigate the magnitude of criminal behavior among patients suffering from SUDs admitted at the Institute of Psychiatry (IOP) of Ain Shams University hospitals (ASUH). This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. 65 Egyptian adult male patients shared in this study. The Arabic version of Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (CV)(SCID I) was used for diagnosing Axis I, the Arabic version of Addiction severity index (ASI), and the Composite Scores to measure the impact of addiction on various aspects of life and to what extent. Most of the patients were around 30 years, single, from urban areas and unemployed, started smoking and substance use from the age of 10-20 for novelty seeking, starting with cannabis then tramadol and heroin, 23% of them attempted suicide, mainly by cutting wrist, with history of psychiatric illness in most of them. The most prevalent crimes committed by subjects were driving under the influence, followed by victimless theft crimes and assault; heroin addicts had the highest score of the final severity of addiction in the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) score scale. These study results suggest a significant positive correlation between substance use disorder and criminal behavior.
June 2019