THE VALUE OF SOME CLINICAL AND DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF HEROIN ADDICTION IN EVALUATION OF THE PROGNOSIS OF DISEASE

Objective: To study and provide the clinical and dynamic characteristics of heroin addiction and their impact on the prognosis of the disease and formulate the recommendations to improve the narcological care. Methods: The values of some clinical and dynamic factors in the assessment of the prognosis of heroin addiction in 170 patients were investigated. Results: It has been established that the combination of such clinical and dynamic factors of heroin addiction as the early onset of familiarization the use of narcotic substance in the age of 20 years, the use of heroin as a first sample of the narcotic substance, the duration of the disease more than ten years, a highly progressive rate of the course, the presence of concomitant viral hepatitis or positive HIV status may determine an unfavorable prognosis of the disease. Clinical and dynamic factors of favorable prognosis are: the late start of drug use – over the age of 40 years; the first test drug is different from heroin; duration of drug use up to 5 years; the low-progressive rate of the disease, the absence of concomitant diseases associated with injecting drug use in the form of viral hepatitis and HIV. Conclusions: The highlighted prognostic criteria for heroin addiction and the offered to their base prognostic «risk group» of patients will optimize clinical and organizational approaches in fulfillment of complex measures aimed at the treatment and rehabilitation of patients with heroin addiction. Presented characteristics can be taken into account in the formation of preventive measures, a differentiated approach to dispensary supervision of persons suffering heroin addiction. Keywords: Opioids, narcomania, heroin, prognosis, addiction, narcological care