THE PROFILE OF OPIOID–DEPENDENT PATIENTS REFERRED TO SEMBADA HOSPITAL, MEDAN, INDONESIA

Drug dependence has become a real concern among parents in Indonesia and is now a national, as well as global health problem. The objectives of this study were to find out the profile of opioid-dependent patients referred to Sembada Hospital, Medan, North Sumatera Indonesia for treatment. Patients were interviewed when they were sober, using questionnaires. There were 45 participants, mostly below 30 years old, male, and not well educated and single or divorced. Almost all of them (95.6%) had a smoking habit, which started at an early age. Most of the participants were either the eldest child (24.4%) or the youngest child (35.6%) in the family. Their first illicit drug was mostly marijuana (66.7%), which they started using before the age of 20 years. Polysubstance use was common. It was usually a combination of opioids, tobacco, cannabis and amphetamine. They used opioid by injection (heroin injecting drug user) and out of 22 participants who agreed to a blood test, 20 were positive for hepatitis C. Many had been previously involved in various crimes.