Prevalence of alcohol use and depressive/anxiety symptoms among patients of opioid agonist treatment programs in Ukraine

This cross-sectional study explores the prevalence of alcohol use problems, depression/anxiety symptoms, and suicidal ideations among patients of the opioid agonist treatment (OAT) programs in Ukraine and their co-occurrence. AUDIT, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) were used to measure mental health conditions. In addition, the number of missed visits on site for substitute medication for the last month was counted, and blood alcohol levels were recorded (Drager Alcotest 6820, Draeger, Lübeck, Germany). Data were collected from October 2021 to January 2022 (before the full-scale Russian invasion) based on OAT centers in Kyiv, Sumy, and Lviv. The sample size was 999 patients. The overall rate of signs of alcohol-related problems (AUDIT), depression symptoms (PHQ-9), and anxiety symptoms (GAD-7) in the sample was 3.8 (SD 5.424), –7.42 (SD 5.336), and 5.058 (SD 4.264), respectively. For alcohol-related problems, 16.4% of the participants reported harmful drinking (one-month prevalence). Depression symptoms from moderate to severe were found in 26.73% of cases, and generalized anxiety symptoms from moderate to severe levels were found in 14.71% of patients (2-week prevalence). The 2-week suicide ideation prevalence was 24.9% (a quarter of all OAT patients). General co-occurrence of depression and anxiety symptoms was equal to 13.31% of all patients who participated in the study (32.13% of all patients having depression or anxiety symptoms). There was an increase in the general co-occurrence ratio with an increase in the severity of alcohol-related problems from 10.66% to 54.55%.