Muhammad Firaz Khan, Mian Mukhtarul Haq, Asadullah, Naila Riaz Awan.
Drug misuse in people with learning disability presenting to a drug abuse treatment center.
J Pak Psych Soc Jan ;10(2):96-8.

Objective: To determine the characteristics of people with Learning Disabilities (LD) who misuse drugs. Design: Descriptive study. Place and Duration of study: Drug Abuse Treatment Centre, Department of Psychiatry, Lady Reading hospital, Peshawar from July 2012 to October 2013. Subjects and Methods: A total of 51 patients were identified with Learning Disabilities who misuse drugs and their age, sex, marital status, employment status, place of drug abuse, living status and co morbid psychiatric problems were determined. Patient with psychotic symptoms and physical health problems were excluded. Results: The mean age of the sample was 29.18±7.12 years. Out of 51 patients, majority of the patients were borderline or mild LD (n=11, 21.5%) while 40(78.5%) had moderate LD. Forty three(87%) patients were unmarried. hirty six(70.5%) of these were having had co morbid anxiety and depression. Primary drug of abuse for majority (n=45,91%) was heroin. TThirty (58%) reported to misuse substance with their non LD peers. Conclusion: People with Learning Disabilities who misuse drugs are usually Mild LD, males, unemployed, live alone and have co morbid psychiatric problems. Early identification and support systems could be the mainstay of management for people with LD who misuse drugs.

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