DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2018.v06i02.020

Pages: 558-562

In drug addiction research, quality of life assessment is done for several reasons because addiction to illicit drugs is a cluster of physiological, behavioural, and cognitive phenomena which can damage individual’s physical and mental health, role performance, and social adaptation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes in the quality of life (QoL) in 65 patients of alcohol dependence, aged 18-45 years, over a period of six months and compare it with QoL of 120 age and gender matched healthy controls using World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument (WHOQoL BREF) and Severity of alcohol dependence was also assessed using SAD-Q. Patients admitted for study underwent pharmacological treatment as required .Non pharmacological intervention in the form of weekly psycho-education session for the first month and monthly thereafter for next 6 months period was given by psychiatric social worker/ psychiatrist. A substantial improvement was observed in the QoL of patients with alcohol dependence over a span of six months follow up. The mean score of all 4 domains of the QoL in alcohol dependent subjects were very low before the treatment initiation at baseline. The regular follow-up and support of the care givers enables the patients to achieve complete abstinence, improving their quality of life.