Objective: To find the drug dependence distribution in patients of different segments of community and their level of knowledge and health awareness.
Patients and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted from November 2006 to December 2007 and included 417 patients, 391 male and 24 female of age groups 17-60 years randomly taken from the different segments of the society in the various hospitals, clinics and general population. All subjects were interviewed and questionnaire consisting of 25 questions concerning addiction. The answers were scored and analyzed.
Results: The level of health awareness in our cases was poor and only a fraction of them had partial knowledge of addiction.
Conclusion: Most of the study population had no idea about addiction, its mechanism and complications. Emphasis should be placed on the education of the patients and their families as well. (Rawal Med J 2008;33:211-214).
Key words: Addiction, drugs, dependency, awareness, disease.
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