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Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems: 2024, 26, 38

Determination of sexual functioning, quality of life levels, and healing factors of substance-abusing men who continue the rehabilitation program in Turkey

Melike Dişsiz

Digital Object Identifier:
https://doi.org/10.62401/2531-4122-2024-38

Summary: Background. Rehabilitation is all activities carried out to enable substance-addicted patients to reach their maximum capacity in physical, mental, psychological, social and economic terms. Aim. This study aims to determine the quality of life, sexual functioning, and healing factors of substance-abusing men who continue the rehabilitation program. Methods. This study is of the descriptive type. The study included 31 men who applied to the Alcohol and Substance Dependence and Treatment unit (AMATEM) of a public hospital between January 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, were sexually active, completed the substance abuse treatment program, continued the outpatient rehabilitation program for the last six months, and agreed to participate in the study. Results. It was found that the mean age of the substance-abusing men (heroin, cocaine) who participated in the study was 27.12±6.2; 54.5% of them had an income less than their expenses, and 45.5% were unemployed. It was found that participants continuing the outpatient rehabilitation program showed the highest score on the Physical Functioning Scale of the SF-36 (80.60±7.6), had sexual intercourse an average of 2.51±1.4 per week, 90% were polygamous, 81.8% of them were satisfied with their sexual lives, and 6.1% had sexual dysfunction according to the ASEX scale cut-off score (>19). In addition, it was found in the study that the participants showed the most support from their families (22.48±7.2) and that instilling hope (24.06±7.7) stood out among healing factors during the rehabilitation phase. Conclusions. In this study, it was concluded that the quality of life of substance-abusing men who have been attending the rehabilitation program for at least six months is at a moderate level, the level of social support they receive from their families is high, their hopes for healing increase accordingly, and a very small number of them have deterioration in their sexual functions.

Keywords: Substance abuse; Quality of life; Sexual functioning; Healing factors