Development of substance outcomes profile to determine consequences of substance use in methamphetamine users

Abstract

Background: Methamphetamine abuse is common in Thailand. Measuring the impact of substance use is essential. However, a tool for measuring the impact of substance use is not yet available in Thailand.

Objective: To determine the reliability of substance outcomes profile (SOP) in Thai version.

Methods: This study is a cross-sectional descriptive study. Data were collected from 106 methamphetamine users at both inpatient and outpatient settings, who were seen for the treatment of methamphetamine use at a substance abuse treatment center. Only patients who were seen for the first time within 1 week were recruited. The subjects were selected by purposive sampling. Data were collected during July – September 2017. Data collection instruments included sociodemographic questionnaire SOP. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients.

Results: The results showed that SOP had the total reliability of 0.62 and 0.56. The reliabilities of each components were 0.174 - 0.570 and 0.201 - 0.410. The question with highest reliability was self-harm and the one with least reliability was harm to family members. No respondents were exposed to the risk behavior for injection.

Conclusion: The reliability of the SOP is moderate. Knowing the impact on each aspect can screen the risky groups and provide appropriate assistance to the groups accordingly.