A comparison of the severity of substance use disorder in patients with natural opium use versus heroin use

Background: Historically and culturally, natural opium is considered less harmful in comparison to heroin/pharmaceutical opioids, but the evidence regarding this is limited and mostly indirect. Aim: The aim of this analysis was to compare problems experienced by patients with natural opium and heroi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mukesh Kumar Swami, Siddharth Sarkar, Naresh Nebhinani, Roshan Bhad, Surendra Singh Rajpurohit, Esha Sood, Pranshu Singh, Raja Babu Ramawat, Ashwani Kumar Mishra
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2025-06-01
Series:Indian Journal of Psychiatry
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/indianjpsychiatry_1162_24
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849425457447960576
author Mukesh Kumar Swami
Siddharth Sarkar
Naresh Nebhinani
Roshan Bhad
Surendra Singh Rajpurohit
Esha Sood
Pranshu Singh
Raja Babu Ramawat
Ashwani Kumar Mishra
author_facet Mukesh Kumar Swami
Siddharth Sarkar
Naresh Nebhinani
Roshan Bhad
Surendra Singh Rajpurohit
Esha Sood
Pranshu Singh
Raja Babu Ramawat
Ashwani Kumar Mishra
author_sort Mukesh Kumar Swami
collection DOAJ
description Background: Historically and culturally, natural opium is considered less harmful in comparison to heroin/pharmaceutical opioids, but the evidence regarding this is limited and mostly indirect. Aim: The aim of this analysis was to compare problems experienced by patients with natural opium and heroin use. Methods: The study is a secondary analysis of data collected during the development of the Assessment of Severity of Substance use for Outcomes Research and Treatment (ASSORT) scale. Patients with natural opium use (n = 72) and heroin use (n = 172) were compared. Results: Natural opium users were of higher age and from a rural background. The ASSORT score was significantly lower among natural opium users than heroin users (mean 77.8 versus 99.7, P < 0.001). Natural opium users experienced fewer problems in all domains of ASSORT except problems in physical health. Conclusion: Hence, patients with natural opium use experience fewer problems in comparison to those with heroin use.
format Article
id doaj-art-95dd1e4394f3449c97b53da5550f2fc9
institution Kabale University
issn 0019-5545
1998-3794
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
record_format Article
series Indian Journal of Psychiatry
spelling doaj-art-95dd1e4394f3449c97b53da5550f2fc92025-08-20T03:29:45ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsIndian Journal of Psychiatry0019-55451998-37942025-06-0167662262610.4103/indianjpsychiatry_1162_24A comparison of the severity of substance use disorder in patients with natural opium use versus heroin useMukesh Kumar SwamiSiddharth SarkarNaresh NebhinaniRoshan BhadSurendra Singh RajpurohitEsha SoodPranshu SinghRaja Babu RamawatAshwani Kumar MishraBackground: Historically and culturally, natural opium is considered less harmful in comparison to heroin/pharmaceutical opioids, but the evidence regarding this is limited and mostly indirect. Aim: The aim of this analysis was to compare problems experienced by patients with natural opium and heroin use. Methods: The study is a secondary analysis of data collected during the development of the Assessment of Severity of Substance use for Outcomes Research and Treatment (ASSORT) scale. Patients with natural opium use (n = 72) and heroin use (n = 172) were compared. Results: Natural opium users were of higher age and from a rural background. The ASSORT score was significantly lower among natural opium users than heroin users (mean 77.8 versus 99.7, P < 0.001). Natural opium users experienced fewer problems in all domains of ASSORT except problems in physical health. Conclusion: Hence, patients with natural opium use experience fewer problems in comparison to those with heroin use.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/indianjpsychiatry_1162_24assortnatural opiumsemisynthetic opioids
spellingShingle Mukesh Kumar Swami
Siddharth Sarkar
Naresh Nebhinani
Roshan Bhad
Surendra Singh Rajpurohit
Esha Sood
Pranshu Singh
Raja Babu Ramawat
Ashwani Kumar Mishra
A comparison of the severity of substance use disorder in patients with natural opium use versus heroin use
Indian Journal of Psychiatry
assort
natural opium
semisynthetic opioids
title A comparison of the severity of substance use disorder in patients with natural opium use versus heroin use
title_full A comparison of the severity of substance use disorder in patients with natural opium use versus heroin use
title_fullStr A comparison of the severity of substance use disorder in patients with natural opium use versus heroin use
title_full_unstemmed A comparison of the severity of substance use disorder in patients with natural opium use versus heroin use
title_short A comparison of the severity of substance use disorder in patients with natural opium use versus heroin use
title_sort comparison of the severity of substance use disorder in patients with natural opium use versus heroin use
topic assort
natural opium
semisynthetic opioids
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/indianjpsychiatry_1162_24
work_keys_str_mv AT mukeshkumarswami acomparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT siddharthsarkar acomparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT nareshnebhinani acomparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT roshanbhad acomparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT surendrasinghrajpurohit acomparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT eshasood acomparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT pranshusingh acomparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT rajababuramawat acomparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT ashwanikumarmishra acomparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT mukeshkumarswami comparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT siddharthsarkar comparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT nareshnebhinani comparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT roshanbhad comparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT surendrasinghrajpurohit comparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT eshasood comparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT pranshusingh comparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT rajababuramawat comparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse
AT ashwanikumarmishra comparisonoftheseverityofsubstanceusedisorderinpatientswithnaturalopiumuseversusheroinuse