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Background and Aims: Relapse is a major clinical concern in alcohol use disorders. The magnitude of the problem, poor access and availability of treatment, and changing social milieu placed India in a challenging position. This was a systematic review of Indian studies on rates and determinants of relapse to alcohol. Methods: Systematic search (January 1980-May 2020) was carried out on PubMed and Google Scholar to select studies that presented either rates or predictors (or both) to alcohol. Relapse was broadly defined based on the characterization in the included articles. We adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses standard for reporting systematic reviews. Results: Thirty-six studies were selected for the qualitative synthesis from the 68 studies. In the pooled sample of 2481 participants, the relapse rate ranged from 3.4% to 90%. The study duration varied from 1 to 36 months. Results suggested that the rates were overall higher in the observational than interventional studies and in studies from states with community prevalence of alcohol use >15% than in those <10%. There was significant heterogeneity among studies. Risk factors of relapse identified were demographic (e.g., younger age), psychological (e.g., craving), situational (e.g., peer influence), stressful life situations (e.g., financial problems), and family history of alcohol use. Conclusion: Relapse is likely in a substantial proportion of participants. Addressing the risk factors might help in delaying relapse. Future studies could concentrate on inclusive study design and robust methodology, to examine and understand the rates and risk factors of relapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Sexual dysfunction is often associated with substance use disorders. This study aimed to synthesize Indian literature on sexual dysfunction among patients with substance use disorders. Materials and Methods: Electronic search engines were used to identify studies of the last 20 years that reported sexual dysfunction with different substance use disorders. Information was extracted using a predefined template. Quality appraisal of the included studies was carried out using Joanna Briggs Institute checklist. Results: Twenty-seven relevant papers were identified that pertained to 24 distinct studies. Most of them were in patients with alcohol dependence, and fewer were in patients with opioid dependence. The study designs were primarily single-group cross-sectional, though many case--control, cross-sectional studies were also identified. The proportion of participants with sexual dysfunction ranged from 22.2% to 76% for studies related to alcohol dependence and 40% to 90% for studies pertaining to opioid dependence. Varied types of sexual dysfunctions were identified, including poor satisfaction, lack of desire, premature ejaculation, and erectile dysfunction. Efforts to address bias and confounders were not reported in most studies. Conclusion: Sexual dysfunction affects a substantial proportion of patients with substance use disorders. Clinicians can make an effort to ascertain and address sexual dysfunction in their routine clinical practice while dealing with patients with substance use disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the ways to address the treatment gap for substance use disorders is to understand the barriers and facilitators to treatment. This study aimed to synthesize the literature on barriers and facilitators of treatment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). We search Medline electronic database to identify English language peer reviewed empirical studies, both qualitative and quantitative which reported barriers and/or facilitators of treatment of substance use disorders. Of 1389 titles, we selected 28 studies (14 were qualitative and 14 quantitative studies). The sample sizes of the qualitative studies ranged from 11 to 235. The majority of studies were from community or clinic settings. A wide range of barriers and facilitators were identified from the qualitative studies and were synthesized according to perceived susceptibility/seriousness, self-efficacy, perceived costs, perceived benefits, and cues to action. Most of the quantitative studies were community-based cross sectional-observational by design. Commonly identified barriers in these quantitative studies were perceived lack of problem or lack of need for treatment and low motivation whereas factors such as good family support and availability of effective treatment was found to facilitate substance use disorder treatment. There are a wide range of barriers that hinder the substance use disorder treatment as well as certain factors that facilitate the treatment. Addressing them can help to minimize the treatment gap, which in turn can help in reducing the familial and social burden due to substance use disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]