الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Substance misuse refers to the use of classical psycho-active substances (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, cocaine, etc.), new psycho-active substances (e.g., ecstasy) and volatile substances (e.g., halothane, gasoline, poppers, etc.) for non-medical or non-scientific purposes. Substance-related disorders occur in the course of abusing one or more psycho-active substances. Substance use disorders include substance abuse (also called substance misuse, drug misuse, harmful use, or problematic drug use) and substance dependence. Substance induced disorders include a large spectrum of disorders (called also dual diagnoses, co-morbid or co-occurring disorders) of different severity and various clinical forms such as acute intoxication, withdrawal syndrome, psychotic and behavioural disorders, co-occurring acute or chronic medical conditions, etc. Other consequences of persistent substance abuse include increased risk of the burden of the disease, injury, loss of productivity, social welfare needs, healthcare costs, disability, and premature mortality.
The aim of the present study was to identify the biological and socio-demographic characteristics of the studied substance abusers, identify the types of substances abused and reveal possible social determinants of substance abuse, explore the substance abuse related health effects experienced by substance abusers, identify the health services provided to substance abusers by the Neuropsychiatric Centre of Kamenge, and to assess the extent of satisfaction of substance abusers with the provided health services.
To fulfil the overall aim of the current study, a cross-sectional survey was carried out on substance abusers who attended the Centre’s outpatient and inpatient services for assessment and treatment over a period of two months (September 9 to November 9, 2017). The General Director of the Centre and the physician manager of the addiction treatment unit were interviewed to identify the health services provided to substance abusers by the Centre. Substance abusers who met inclusion criteria were confidentially interviewed by the investigator to collect needed data on their biological and socio-demographic characteristics, pattern of substance abuse, social determinants of substance abuse, and satisfaction degree with the provided health services. Medical records were reviewed to get valid diagnoses regarding health effects related to substance abuse experienced by attendees.
Findings of the present study are presented in five sections namely:
Section I: Biological and socio-demographic characteristics of the studied substance abusers
The studied substance abusers were 98 and their mean age was 27.8 8.7 years, ranging from 16 to 57 years. Most of them were males (92.9%) and came from nuclear families (84.7%). Three-quarters of them (75.5%) were single (never married) whereas around 16.4% of them were legally married. Most of them lived in cities (71.4%). More than one-fifth of them came from rural areas (22.5%). A minority of them were from neighbourly countries ’cities (6.1%) (Democratic Republic of Congo and United Republic of Tanzania). The largest proportion of them were unemployed (46.9%), while each of private workers and students accounted for less than one-fifth of them (18.4%) respectively. Half of them (50.0%) had secondary education level. Less than half of them (42.9%) had basic education level. Illiterate and university graduates accounted for 5.1% and 2.1% of them respectively. More than half of the studied subjects (52.0%) belonged to average and rich households (with monthly incomes more than BIF 53,043).