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Objective: In this study, it was planned to determine regional differences in terms of sociodemographic and clinical features of patients with substance use disorder. Methods: The files of 557 patients diagnosed with substance dependence between January 2016 and June 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Age, education, marital status, number of hospital admissions, type of substance used, duration of substance use, province and geographical region of the patients were evaluated. Results: The mean age of 557 patients was 27.73±8.33 and 97.1% were male, 65.7% were primary school graduates and 42.4% were single. Of the patients, 63.2% were living in the Western Black Sea (WBS), 15.4% in the Central Anatolia (CA), 13.1% in the Marmara region (MR) and 8.3% in other regions. The most common multiple substance was used mostly cannabis (Cn) except CA. The age at onset of substance was the lowest on MR (8-15 years). In all regions, a request for voluntary treatment was more than the other forms of referral. The rate of detainees/convicts is lower in the WBS compared to other regions. There was no significant difference between the mean duration of substance use, age and number of applications in terms of geographical regions. Discussion: When the results of this study were evaluated together with the previous studies, it indicates that the substance used and the age of onset differed not only between the regions experienced but also within the same region over the years. Regional differences may require the use of different strategies to combat substance abuse. Therefore, such studies should be repeated at regular intervals and new monitoring tools should be used. (Anatolian Journal of Psychiatry 2020; 21(1):61-69)
Keywords: substance abuse, addiction, regional