Psychiatric Comorbidities in Patients with Alcohol Dependence Syndrome and Its Correlation with Severity of Addiction: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background And Objective: Alcohol dependence is a chronic condition marked by a pattern of alcohol use that compromises one’s ability to function generally in socio-occupational settings and physical and mental well-being. This study is undertaken to assess the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities in alcohol-dependence patients and to correlate the severity of addiction. Materials & Methods: A total of 193 Patients aged 18 to 65 years who visited psychiatry OPD with a history of alcohol abuse and inpatients referred for alcohol abuse at a tertiary care center, fulfilling the inclusion & exclusion criteria were enrolled in this observational cross-sectional study after taking informed consent. A detailed history and thorough evaluation were made. Patients fulfilling the diagnostic criteria of alcohol dependence syndrome as per ICD-10 were included. MINI-6.0 questionnaire was administered to find out psychiatric comorbidities, and the SADQ-C questionnaire was to correlate the severity of the addiction. Results: Of the 193 instances, 48 appear to be severe cases. A chi-square test of independence was performed to evaluate the correlation between sociodemographic characteristics and severity of conditions, which appear to be statistically significant(P=<0.001). Most of the patients were Males, with 95.85%. The relationship between substance use and the severity of symptoms appears to be statistically significant (P=<0.001). The prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity is 46.63%, and the severity of the conditions appears statistically significant (P=<0.001). Comorbidities, including personality disorder (13.3%), anxiety disorder (35.5%), mood disorder (28.9%), and psychotic disorder (22.2%) tend to have a statistically significant correlation with the severity of the disorders(P=<0.001). Conclusion: Psychiatric comorbidity is common in people with alcohol dependence. This study suggests a significant prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity in alcohol-dependence patients with major comorbidity as Mood Disorder, bringing us insight to evaluate in detail and treat accordingly.