The prevalence and psychosocial correlates of Ketum (Mitragyna speciosa) use among individuals on methadone maintenance therapy programme in Hospital Taiping, Malaysia

Choo, Ling Ling and Ahmad Zahari, Muhammad Muhsin and Choy, Seng Kit and Abdul Rahim, Naemah and Abd Rashid, Rusdi (2022) The prevalence and psychosocial correlates of Ketum (Mitragyna speciosa) use among individuals on methadone maintenance therapy programme in Hospital Taiping, Malaysia. Healthcare, 10 (4). ISSN 2227-9032, DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10040746.

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Ketum use is significantly prevalent amongst individuals in the northern states of Peninsular Malaysia. This study aims to investigate the prevalence and psychosocial correlates of Ketum use in individuals who are in the Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) Programme at the Hospital Taiping. This is a cross-sectional study conducted in the methadone clinic at the Hospital Taiping. The study instruments used were Subjective Opiate Withdrawal Scale (SOWS), Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) questionnaire, and Kratom Dependence Scale (KDS). A total of 215 subjects were recruited for this study. The prevalence of ketum users was 49.3% (n = 106). Chinese and Indian ethnicity had a lower tendency to use ketum compared to Malay ethnicity, with OR = 0.386 (95% CI 0.134, 1.113) and 0.119 (95% CI 0.035, 0.408), respectively. Individuals who used other illicit drugs had a higher tendency to use ketum with the adjusted OR = 9.914 (95% CI: 1.109, 88.602). Every one unit increase in SOWS increased the odds of being a ketum user by 1.340 (95% CI: 1.070, 1.677), whereas every one unit increase in duration in the MMT programme reduced the odds of being a ketum user by 0.990 (95% CI: 0.982, 0.998). Ketum use is prevalent amongst those in the MMT programme in this study. The high prevalence of ketum use is of concern and further interventions should be carried out to address this.

Item Type: Article
Funders: Department of Psychological Medicine, University Malaya Medical Centre, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Taiping
Uncontrolled Keywords: Ketum; Kratom; Methadone maintenance therapy
Subjects: R Medicine
Divisions: Faculty of Medicine
Depositing User: Ms. Juhaida Abd Rahim
Date Deposited: 14 Sep 2023 02:31
Last Modified: 14 Sep 2023 02:31
URI: http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/42919

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item