Prevalence and risk factors for depressive symptom in methamphetamine use disorder

Methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) is a severe public health problem, accompanying physical and psychological impairment. Depression is a common comorbidity with MUD, which is associated with poor treatment outcome. The objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence of depressive symptoms among male MUD individuals and identify potential risk factors.

A total of 483 male MUD individuals from six drug rehabilitation centers were included for analysis. The demographic information, drug use history, and clinical performances were analyzed. We conducted multiple regression analysis to identify predictive factors of depression, and examined the difference among MUD individuals with different depression severity.

89.03% of MUD individuals exhibited depressive symptoms. Length of abstinence (β = -0.006, p = 0.003) and subjective craving (β = 0.052, p < 0.001) were the leading predictive factors of depression. Drug use onset age (R² = 0.010, r = -0.102, p = 0.024) negatively associated with depression severity. Depressive symptoms also positively associated with anxiety (R² = 0.171, r = 0.413, p < 0.001), poor sleep quality (R² = 0.133, r = 0.365, p < 0.001), and impulsivity (R² = 0.012, r = 0.111, p = 0.015).

The prevalence of depressive symptoms in MUD individuals is high. Abstinence and Craving days are important predictive factors for depression severity.