The Social Characteristics of Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder in the Area of the Tuzla Canton - Bosnia and Herzegovina.

BACKGROUND Researches to date had indicated that socioeconomic status is a strong predictor of health behavior but also it has two-way effect with alcohol use disorder. This study examines social factors and their impact on alcohol use disorder and places individual alcohol use in the context of the status and conditions in which people live. To determine the distribution and characteristics of social factor in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) in the area of the Tuzla Canton (TC) in the period 01.01.2011 - 31.12.2015, in relation to: age, sex, marital status, level of education, municipality of residence, home ownership status, family structure, employment status, and monthly monetary income. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Retrospective research was conducted using a systematic sample of 1863 patients with AUD, using documentation from the Psychiatry clinic of the University Clinical Centre (UCC) and the protocols of Health Centres. RESULTS The sample was composed 1808 (97.05%) men and 55 (2.95%) women; the ratio of men to women was 33:1. the ages of the patients in the sample were 54.4±9.79 years - men 54.49±9.74 years; women 51.45±10.94 years. Most of the men in the sample were married (71.1%) and most of the women were widowed (54.5%). The largest number of patients had elementary school education (66.5%), were unemployed (56.8%), with a monthly monetary income less than 300 convertible marks (KM) (62.2%), owned their own home (78.2%), and 36.1% of them lived with a partner or their own children. CONCLUSIONS There are significantly more men being treated for AUD; most of them are married, and most of the women are widowed. The largest number of patients treated for AUD have elementary school education, are unemployed, have monthly monetary income less than 300 km, own their own house, and a little more than one third of them lived with their partner or their own children.