Advances in Psychology and Neuroscience

The 21st century Nigeria has witnessed changing trends in the patterns of psychoactive substance use with Tramadol HCl emerging as a candidate drug in the North-eastern region of the country. This study assessed the prevalence, patterns and the reasons behind the sustained use of Tramadol in a sub-population of drug users. This is a retrospective crosssectional study in which socio-demographic, clinical and drug-related data were extracted from the clinical records of 237 drug users attending the addiction clinic of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Maiduguri, North-eastern Nigeria. The prevalence of Tramadol abuse was 54.4% [n=129] and 78 [60.5%, 95% C.I. = 54.1 65.7] met the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for Tramadol dependence. Over 93% of Tramadol users were males and 87 [67.4%, 95% C.I. = 59.9 73.4] were in the 18 to 37 years age bracket. Over 67% used Tramadol in combination with other psychoactive substances while 65.1% [95% C.I. = 50.7 81.4] used multiple daily doses. Over 91% of the subjects obtained the drug without prescriptions and 12.4% [95% C.I. = 7.5 16.8] were first initiated to the drugs by prescriptions from health professionals. The commonest primary reasons for continuous usage were; to relieve tiredness [28.7%, 95% C.I.= 25.4 31.2] and to prolong the time of sexual intercourse [22.5%, 95% C.I. = 20.1 24.7]. Considering the addictive potentials of Tramadol, there is the need for; psychoeducational programmes for adolescents and young adults, rational prescriptions by clinicians and enhancing the operational capacities of regulatory agencies.