Substance-use related psychiatric comorbidity among clients of aftercare programme

Background: Mental illness is a risk factor for the development of addiction, e.g. as a result of self-medication, and vice versa, addictive behavior can contribute to the development of mental illness. Disorders from the use of addictive substances concurrently with another mental disorder, the so-called "dual diagnosis", has a high prevalence among users of addictive substances. Clients with psychiatric comorbidity have a higher incidence of risky behavior or suicide and a higher need for services and care. Objective: The objective of this work was to determine the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity associated with the use of addictive substances in clients using the services of a aftercare center and to describe the factors that accompany its occurrence. Methods: A secondary analysis of data was performed from the provided anonymized database of clients actively using the services of the aftercare center as of March 1, 2023. In addition to the sociodemographic data of the clients, data on the use of addictive substances, the nature of the addiction disorder, the presence of disorders in the field of mental health and factors, were analyzed which could influence their occurrence and clinical severity in the client. Results: The research group consisted of 79 clients of the outpatient and..