Perceptions of a group of health professionals working in the addiction center and other hospital units towards patients with substance use disorder

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the current study was to determine perceptions of hospital workers toward patients diagnosed with substance use disorder (SUD) in relation to their personal and moral attributes and social networks and to investigate the factors affecting their perceptions.

Materials and Methods: The study sample included 159 healthcare workers employed at various facilities in our district. A study-specific adaptation of the "Perceptions toward Criminals Scale'' that focused on substance users was administered to evaluate perceptions of healthcare workers toward individuals with substance use disorder.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 35.76 +/- 8.17 years and 64.2% were male. 51.6% of the participants were employed at an addiction center. Healthcare workers at the addiction center were twice more likely than other hospital workers to have positive perceptions toward personal and moral attributes of patients with SUD. Similarly, healthcare workers who had participated in an educational event on addiction were 1.4 times more likely to have positive perceptions toward patients with SUD than those who had not. However, all participants showed negative perceptions toward social networks of patients with SUD.

Conclusion: Negative perceptions of healthcare workers toward social networks of patients (family, friends and social environment) with substance use disorder can harm the holistic nature of addiction treatment. Therefore, efforts should be made to improve knowledge and awareness among healthcare workers on social networks of substance users.