Prevalence of Relapse amongst Substance Abused Patients in Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Calabar, Between 2015 to 2019

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of relapse among substance abuse patients in Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Calabar between 2015 and 2019. Having obtained approval from ethical team of the hospital, the study was conducted. Two (2) research questions were raised to guide the study. A retrospective cohort study design was adopted to study a total of 139 substance abused patients’ record from the research area, which was selected using systematic random sampling procedure. Data was collected using a self-developed and validated checklist by Nursing Department of the institution. Data obtained were analyzed using frequency counts and simple percentages, while the association between variables was achieved using Chi-square statistical analysis significant at 0.05. Findings from the study revealed that the prevalence of relapse among the patients in Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Calabar between 2015 and 2019 is 23 per cent (n=32) indicating that in every 100 substance abuse patients admitted in the Hospital within these period, 32 experienced relapse. Within this period, the highest occurrence of relapse was recorded in 2016. Also, majority of patients with relapse were male, age ranged between 20 – 29 years, and were re-admitted in the Hospital for 2-3 times. The demographic characteristics that significantly associated with relapse within the period under study were; sex, age, marital status, educational level and occupation. Based on all these findings, it was recommended that clinicians and educators should work together to develop appropriate treatments strategy and after-care programs that will address the issue of substance use, relapse and prevention.