Comparison of psychiatric morbidity and quality of life among caregivers of substance abusers

Background: The effects of substance abuse are extended to primary caregiver who is vulnerable for psychiatric disorders and decreased quality of life (QOL). Aim: The aim of the study is to determine and compare the psychiatric morbidity and QOL in caregivers of various substance abusers (alcohol/opioid/alcohol + opioid dependence). Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted on caregivers of equal number of patients with alcohol/opioid/alcohol + opioid dependence presenting to Department of Psychiatry of a tertiary care center. The data were collected on sociodemographic parameters; psychiatric morbidity was assessed using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M. I. N. I.) questionnaire and the QOL was assessed by WHO-QOL BREF scale. Statistical analysis: The data were statistically analyzed on SPSS 21 software by using ANOVA, Chi-square, and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results: Most of the caregivers were females. Out of 90 caregivers of each alcohol/opioid/alcohol + opioid dependence patients, 28.8% had dysthymia, 29% had major depression, 6.7% had social anxiety disorder, 13.3% had generalized anxiety disorder, 12.2% of the caregivers were found to have alcohol abuse, 15.5% of the caregivers were found to have substance abuse (nonalcohol), and 27% of the caregivers had no psychiatric morbidity. Deterioration of QOL was seen particularly in psychological and social domain. On comparing QOL, physical domain was affected adversely in caregivers of multiple substance abusers than alcohol dependence. On comparison among opioid dependence and multiple substance abusers, psychological, social, and environmental domains were significantly affected in the latter. The comparison among other pairs was insignificant. Conclusion: Substance abuse is a multidimensional problem which threatens the mental health and the QOL of the family member which needs to be addressed.