INTERPRETING PSYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTIONING IN INDIVIDUALS USING NON-INJECTABLE OPIOIDS

Abstract

Background: Individuals diagnosed with opioid use disorder (OUD) exhibit a notable disruption in their
psychosocial functioning and related areas. In India, there is a dearth of research on these issues with psychosocial
functioning in opioid use disorder.
Aim: The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the psychosocial functioning of participants receiving standard
treatment for non-injectable opioid use (buprenorphine, tapentadol, tramadol, trazodone, zolpidem, and
chlordiazepoxide) before switching to methadone maintenance therapy (MMT).
Methods: 134 non-injecting patients with opioid use disorder who had received MMT (n = 74) or therapy as usual (n
= 60) for at least one month were evaluated in this cross-sectional research.
The WHO and the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test 3.0 were utilised to evaluate the
individuals' comorbidities and degree of disease. The WHO Quality of Life (WHOQoL BREF), the Client
Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ 8), and the Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS) were
used to measure client satisfaction, QoL, and socio-occupational functioning, respectively.
Results: MMT and TaU had mean SOFAS scores of 78.93±8.03 and 73.31±6.75, respectively, which were
statistically significant at p=0.003. For every parameter—physical, psychological, social, and environmental—the
MMT group's WHO QoL-BREF ratings were considerably higher than those of the TaU group, with corresponding pvalues
of <0.0001, 0.0003, 0.003, and <0.001. With p=0.01, MMT had higher mean CSQ-8 scores, at 21.45±1.45 and
20.58±1.54, respectively. The WHO help scores for MMT and TaU were similar, at 21.66±10.76 and 26.08±9.31,
respectively, with a p-value of 0.09.
Conclusion: Study results indicate that those on MMT for non-injectable opioid use had improved quality of life,
client satisfaction, and socio-occupational functioning in comparison to those on TaU.