Comparison of the Quality of Life of Addicts Participating in Either Narcotics Anonymous or, Therapeutic Community Group Sessions or Receiving Methadone-Therapy a Cohort Study in Mashhad in 2013

Introduction: Chronic and prolonged illnesses and disorders, such as addiction, can create a crisis in the lives of people with disabilities and reduce in their quality of life. Therefore, in this study, we decided to compare the quality of life of individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) who received either Narcotics Anonymous, Therapeutic Community Session or Methadone Therapy. Methods: This cohort study was conducted on detoxified patients receiving either narcotics anonymous, therapeutic community sessions or methadone therapy. The quality of life of the subjects was measured by the SF36 Questionnaire at the baseline and 1.5 months after the start of treatment. Descriptive indicators (mean (SD), frequency (%)), ANOVA, paired t-test, Chi-square and Tukey post hoc analysis test were used for data analysis . Data were analyzed in SPSS19 software at the significance level of P 0.05. Results: Overall,81 patients were enrolled in three groups of 27 people. The mean ± SD of age was obtained as 34.77±8.49 years old, years of consumption as 7.48±2.87, daily consumption frequency as 3.85±2.14, and cessation of consumption frequency as 7.02±10.56. Of those who participated in the study, 57.5% had secondary school education or higher; 50.6% had a freelance job, and 14.9% were unemployed. The mean (SD) score of quality of life among individuals with SUD participating in the sessions of narcotics anonymous (85.7) and therapeutic community group (73.3) increased significantly 1.5 months after the start of the sessions compared to the baseline (P 0.001 ). Conclusion: The results of this study indicated narcotics anonymous and therapeutic community group sessions were effective in improving the quality of life of individuals with SUD. However, this effect was greater in those attending narcotics anonymous sessions. Therefore, it is suggested that individuals with SUD participate in these sessions.