ABSTRACT
Background :Alcohol is a ordinary commodity, used since time immemorial. Psychiatric co morbidities have a high prevalence among patients of alcohol dependence and often pose challenges in their diagnosis and treatment and are found to be a major contributor to relapses. They raise a challenging question of how to provide the best integrated treatment to address both.Aim : To study the socio demographic profile and psychiatric co morbidity in patients of alcohol dependence syndrome.Objectives: 1. To study the socio demographic profile of alcohol dependence patients2. To determine the prevalence and type of psychiatric co-morbidity in alcohol dependent patients.Methodology : Aconsecutive sample of 100 Alcohol Dependence Syndrome patients attending outpatient were selected. Aquestionnaire was administered to collect sample and alcohol dependence characteristics. psychiatric co-morbidity evaluation was done using Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI Plus) and the diagnosis was confirmed by using ICD-10.Results :Majority of the subjects were young adults with a mean age of 42 years, were illiterates, married, employed, belonged to rural background and from lower socio-economic status. psychiatric co-morbidities were present in 33% of population. More of affective spectrum (18%) as compared with lesser numbers of patients in the anxiety (11%) or psychotic spectrum (4%). psychiatric co-morbidity is significantly greater in those who are unemployed.Conclusions:The psychiatric co-morbidity was present in 33% of the population studied. More of affective spectrum, followed by anxiety spectrum and less number of them in psychotic spectrum. All psychiatric co-morbidities may need to be identified for patients diagnosed as alcohol dependence who present with longer duration of drinking and unemployed for effective and comprehensive management