A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILES OF CLIENTS TREATED AT PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER TREATMENT FACILITIES IN KADUNA STATE - NIGERIA

Abstract

Substance use disorder is a serious public health and social problem that affects individual and society. The harms associated with substance use disorder have necessitated the provision of in-patient treatment services by public and private facilities to address substance use disorder problems. Concerns about gaps in service accessibility, client dropout from treatment and relapse necessitated a comparative study of the socio-demographic profiles of clients treated in selected public and private treatment facilities in Kaduna State. The study is quantitative descriptive research that adopted purposive sampling. Questionnaire was administered to one hundred and forty- four (144) clients available for follow-up at two public and private treatment facilities. Descriptive statistics, namely, frequency, percentage and Chi-square were employed for data analysis. Results revealed that clients treated at private facilities were males, young adults, students and singles while males and females, older adults and clients across the various occupations and marital statuses sought treatment in public facilities. However, in terms of level of education, bachelor’s degree was common among clients in both public and private facilities. The study concludes that clients treated in public facilities differ significantly from clients in private facilities on certain socio-demographic variables such as age, sex, marital status and occupation. Therefore, it is recommended that the management of treatment facilities develop services and programmes that are tailored to the needs of the identified category of clients that under-utilize the respective treatment facilities.