Psychoactive Substance Dependence in Females: A Three Year Review

Psychoactive substance use was regarded as a male affair in the past. However, recent findings show an increasing number of females are getting involved. We conducted a three year retrospective review of patients admitted to the Centre for Addiction treatment in Vom, plateau state, Nigeria. We compared the proportion of female clients seeking treatment over a three year period from 2014 to 2016.  There was a steady increase in the female population seeking treatment for substance use disorder within the period of the study.  An overwhelming number of them had multiple drug use disorder and the most common drug of use among females was tramadol. Injecting drug use was very rare among females and the most co-occurring mental disorder among them was depression.