A short report of a 2017 audit in the mental health ward of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH): The burden of substance use disorder

Abstract

The burden of substance use disorder (SUD) is quite high, particularly among the mentally ill. Some studies have reported a prevalence rate of above 80% for use of psychoactive substance among mentally ill patients. The comorbidity of SUD and mental illness poses several challenges to both the management of SUD and mental illness. Despite all these, there is a severe paucity of study on comorbidity of SUD and mental illness in our environment. Therefore the aim of this study was to determine and examine the prevalence of comorbid SUD in the mental health ward of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. The study was a review of data from the ward register for the year 2017. A total of 208 patients were admitted to the mental health wards in 2017 and the prevalence of SUD was 11.06% (23/208 x100). Eighty two point six percent (19/23 x 100) of the SUD patient were males while 17.4% (4/23 x 100) were females. The prevalence of SUD alone was 7.21% (15/208 x100) while the prevalence of comorbid SUD was 3.85 (8/208 x100). The prevalence of SUD and comorbid SUD are relatively high. Policy makers would need to bear this in mind while planning preventive and control strategies for comorbid SUD and mental illness.

Keywords: Audit, Mental Health ward, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, burden, substance use disorder