Prevalence of Psychiatric Comorbidity with Alcohol Dependence and its Association with Quality of Life: A Cross-Sectional Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30834/KJP.39.1.2026.490Keywords:
Alcohol Dependence, Psychiatric Comorbidity, Quality of Life, Dual Diagnosis, Social Quality of LifeAbstract
Background
Alcohol dependence and abuse are public health concerns associated with comorbidity and quality of life.
Methods
The study was done on patients diagnosed with alcohol dependence using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). The presence of psychiatric comorbidity was assessed using the MINI. Quality of life was assessed using the WHO QOL-BREF scale. Significance was calculated using unpaired Student's t-test and chi-square test, respectively, for continuous and categorical variables with SPSS version 26.
Results
Of the 121 persons with alcohol dependence, 52.1% had a psychiatric comorbidity. Bipolar affective disorder was the most common psychiatric comorbidity. The physical, psychological, social, and environmental domain mean scores of quality of life were significantly lower in patients with psychiatric comorbidity: 44.42 vs 50.69 (p=0.002), 37.65 vs 47.79 (p=0.001), 32.13 vs 41.97 (p=0.002), and 46.63 vs 54.02 (p=0.001).
Conclusion
In the current study, around 1 in 2 persons with alcohol dependence suffer from another psychiatric comorbidity. Quality of life is also lowered in persons with alcohol dependence having a psychiatric comorbidity. Routine screening of persons with alcohol dependence to detect psychiatric comorbidity should be done.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Eapen Varghese , AnilkumarThekkethayyil Viswanathan (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
