Drug Use Disorder and Coping Mechanisms Due to COVID-19 Lockdown Measures: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic presented numerous obstacles to people of different health status and capabilities. There is scarcity of information on the coping mechanisms for people with substance use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic in Arab nations. This study aimed to identify behavioural mechanisms and factors associated with how the COVID-19 pandemic measures imposed among people with substance use disorders in Oman. METHODS: Survey data on demographic and behavioural factors from 61 respondents with substance use disorder receiving treatment at a specialised hospital. Changes in behaviour related to substance use due to the COVID-19 measures were investigated using demographic and modifiable factors. For the specific study evaluation, the variables studied included; age, family size, marital status, employment status, suicidal thoughts, and ways of substance abuse, family responsibilities, hospitalisation tendency, and change of behaviour. FINDINGS: All enrolled participants were male. On average, the participants were 16-48 years old (mean age 31.5 years, SD=6.82). The study findings show that the consumption of morphine as the main drug compared to others (OR = 0.03, _p_=0.003) resulted in a reduction in the odds of feeling increased effects of COVID-19 measures among individuals with substance use disorder. Furthermore, the increase in effects was significant among the participants who opted to be hospitalised to reduce drug use (OR=9.97, _p_=0.017) and those who took overdoses (OR=8.17, _p_=0.008). CONCLUSION: The study findings indicate that due to the measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic measures, individuals with drug use disorders switched to different types of drugs, such as morphine, to reduce the effects due to the measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, people with drug use disorders who took overdoses and those hospitalised were more associated with increased effects of measures implemented at the time. The implication of our findings is that outreach and community-based services should be made more accessible for people with drug use disorders, since this could relieve effects due to measures usually implemented to curb pandemics.