Socio-demographic and Clinical Features of Young Adult Males Using Synthetic Cannabinoid (English)

Abstract

Object: Synthetic Cannabinoid (SC) use is becoming more widespread throughout the world. Studies that revealed user profiles indicate that the drug is especially popular among young men. Knowledge on sociodemographic, clinical characteristics and motivation for SC users in our country is limited. On the other hand, in spite of the increase of information known about symptoms of acute intoxication of SC use, physical and psychiatric consequences and loss of function due to longterm use of SC is limited. In this study, we aimed to investigate socio-demographic and clinical characteristics associated with SC use and the negative consequences caused by the use of SC. Methods: 166 male patients who admitted to the psychiatric outpatient clinic due to SC use disorder between November 2014 to April 2015 were enrolled in the study. Demographic data of patients, substance use characteristics, familial substance use, reasons for substance use, medical history, the problems related to drug use was questioned. Results: The age of onset for SC use was found to be 17.25 ± 2.30. SC using duration was 3.79 ± 2.15 years. The most common agents accompanying SC use were smoking (95.8%) and cannabis (88.6%). It was determined that 62.7% developed suicidal ideas due to SC use. Among psychiatric side effects, most common were euphoria, hallucinations, skepticism and suicidal ideation. About 1/3 of cases were found to live loss of business and legal issues depending on long-term SC use. 76.5% of the patients' consumed SC through inhalation and 22.9 % orally. It was determined that oral users began SC use at an earlier age than users via inhalation. Discussion: Despite the physical, mental, occupational, social and legal problems caused by the use of SC, it has become an important public health problem, especially among young men. Effective intervention programs for the use of outbreaking SCs need to be developed.

Strox: A 3-year study of intoxicated cases admitted to Poison Control Center Ain Shams University Hospitals

“…Statistical analysis revealed no significant differences between survivors and nonsurvivors as regard age, sex, manner of poisoning and route of poisoning. Similar results obtained by Oznur et al (2018) in their study of 166 patients with SCs use where the age onset for SCs use was 17.25 ± 2.30 years, all the patients were males, and consumption of SCs was through inhalation (76.5%) or through oral route (22.9 %). Moreover, a Turkish research on 158 SCs users by Bozkurt et al (2014) revealed that 94.9% of SCs users were men, with mean age of 26.1±7 year.…”

“…In the current study, vomiting was noted in 33 % of the patients and 32% had respiratory distress and most of them (22%) were mechanically ventilated. Similarly Oznur et al (2018) in their study found that 62% of the SCs users had respiratory distress and 53% had vomiting.…”

“…In the present study, central nervous system manifestations were predominant as 63% of patients developed coma, 34% developed agitation, and 16% had seizures. Similarly, Oznur et al (2018) in their study of SCs user found that 74.1% of the patients developed hallucination, and 11.4% developed seizures. Also, Sarah et al (2019) in their study of 107 patients with SCs abuse found that 28.5% of the patients had coma, 23.5% had agitation, 19% had seizures and 7% had hallucination.…”

Symptoms of Intoxication and Withdrawal in a Sample of Egyptian Patients Using Synthetic Cannabinoids: A Cohort Study

“…However, in another study by Öznur et al, 12 the mean age of patients was found to be 21.04 ± 1.04, which was younger than what was found in this study.…”

Relation Between Acute Administration of Synthetic Cannabinoids and Induction of Epileptic Seizures

“…[14][15][16] In our study, 67.5% of cases were using synthetic cannabinoids daily, 10% were using 5 to 6 times, 17% used 3 to 4 times, and 5% once to twice per week. Öznur et al 13 found that 55% of cases use synthetic cannabinoids every day, 76.5% > 2 in a week. The most common accompanying agents to synthetic cannabinoid use in our study were in the form of tobacco and THC.…”