Opium and opioid abuse in orthopedic inpatients: A cross sectional study in Urmia University of Medical Sciences

During a cross-sectional study, patients who were admitted to the orthopedic department of the
Urmia University of Medical Sciences were asked about opium/opioid abuse. Demographic characteristics,
the pattern of consumption, the substance, the duration of the use, the duration of hospital stay and the cause
of their injuries were recorded. Among 2,867 patients, 74 (2.5%) patients (71 men and 3 women) with the
mean age of 38 were opium/opioid users. Most of the patients used opium through inhalation. The mean
duration of the substance use was 7.4 years. The mean duration of hospital stay between the regular
orthopedic patients and the opium/opioid abuser orthopedic patients was statistically significant (P=000).
Among four Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infected patients, three subjects were injection users and Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) also infected two of them. Road traffic accidents (37.8%), and work related
injuries (17.5%) were the two most common reasons for the patient’s injuries