Aims: Special drive campaigns on substance use disorders (SUDs) in India are usually organized in educational institutes, non-governmental organizations, or few selected localities. Hard to reach communities of construction, prison, and industrial sites quite often remain uncovered.
Materials and methods: During a month-long special drive in 2019, under a cross-sectional study, we reached these communities of Solan town through awareness camps and incorporated standardized screening tools for evaluating morbidity patterns of SUDs.
Results: Statistically significant relationship existed between 360 participants (90.8% males, 9.2% females; mean age of 33 years) and their educational levels with χ2 (1, n = 360) =130.59, P = 0.000. Fagerstrom's scale inferred very high nicotine dependence in 10.6%, 7.9%, and 2.4% of prisoners, industrial workers, and laborers, respectively. Whereas, Fagerstrom scale for smokeless tobacco revealed 31% of significant dependence potential amongst laborers. Alcohol use disorder identification test revealed 28 persons with harmful alcohol dependence. Drug abuse screening test revealed 13.6% of prisoners having moderate level drug abuse potential. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed a statistically significant difference, in levels and potential of substance use in construction, prison, and industrial sites.
Conclusion: The study proved the utility of special drives in evaluating SUDs morbidity patterns in hard-to-reach communities.
Keywords: Hard to reach; morbidity; prison; screening tools; special drive campaign; substance use disorders.
Copyright: © 2021 Indian Journal of Psychiatry.