Physical and Mental Health Status of Women whose Spouses Inject Drugs - A Cross-Sectional, Multisite Study

Substance use disorder impacts the lives of significant others, more especially the wives of individuals using substances. However, the physical and mental health issues among wives of people who inject drugs (PWID) are less studied. The current cross-sectional, multisite study assessed the physical and mental health of wives of 433 PWID across six sites in Delhi. The mean age of the participants was 32.7 years (standard deviation: 9.7). More than 50% of the participants reported menstrual problems, most commonly dysmenorrhea. Around 55.9% had adverse pregnancy outcomes (abortion, miscarriage, or stillbirth). Around one out of four participants reported at least one specific sexually transmitted infection symptom. Around 11% were diagnosed with tuberculosis and 35% with a major medical illness in their lifetime. More than 90% of the participants had depressive and anxiety symptoms. The study showed that there is a huge burden of physical and mental health issues among the wives of PWID.