Evaluation of sleep disorders in drug dependent inpatients

Background and objective: We aimed to study the relationship between sleep disorders and the type of substance use and the number of previous hospitalizations in patients admitted in a detoxification unit. Patients and methods: We evaluated 150 drug-dependent inpatients with SCID-I. Patients were asked to complete an 11-item questionnaire measure (Likert scales from 1-minimum to 7-maximum) designed to assess the relationship between sleep disorders and drug use. Results: 75.3% were men. 39% were alcoholic, 34,67% cocaine-users, 30% poly-drug users, 22.6% opioid, 18% benzodiazepine and 14% cannabis-dependent patients. 68.1% reported experiencing sleep problems. 80.1% related sleep disorders to drug consumption. Worry about sleep problems was found in all patients with previous hospitalizations (47.3%). This group experienced more insomnia than those who had never been hospitalized (43.7 vs 22.8%, P < .05). Poly-drug users perceived more sleep disorders (57.8 vs 24.3%, P < .05). Insomnia was referred by 61% of alcoholic patients. 86% of the sample used benzodiazepines, 75.4% used them without prescription. Conclusions: The perception of suffering from disordered sleep is frequent in drug addicts. Patients with poly-drug use and previous hospitalizations were the most affected. (C) 2010 Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.