Dual diagnosis and quality of life in patients in treatment for opioid dependence.

This study examined the relationship between quality of life (QOL) and dual diagnosis among patients in treatment for opioid dependence. The study sample includes 57 patients with opioid dependence alone (OD) and 41 with opioid dependence and a psychiatric axis-I disorder (DD), recruited in 2001 and 2004 at the Drug Addiction Services (SerT) of Bolzano and Pontedera (Italy). Participants were 73.5% males, with a mean age of 35.1 years (SD = 8.0). A comparison group of 45 healthy controls was also included. Assessments included a structured psychiatric interview (SCID) and a self-report quality of life assessment (WHOQOL-BREF). Patients with DD reported significantly (p < 0.05) poorer QOL in the physical and psychological domains as compared with patients with OD. Both groups of patients with and without DD showed significantly (p < 0.001) poorer QOL in the physical, psychological, and social domains with respect to healthy participants. The scores on the "relationship with environment" domain did not differ among OD, DD, and controls. The present study provides preliminary evidence that dual diagnosis is associated with poorer QOL and emphasizes the need to target treatment for the mental disorder concomitantly with the dependence problem in patients in treatment for opioid dependence.