Abstract

MACEDO, Ermelinda  and  SILVA, Carlos Fernandes da. Social rhythms and volume of social activity of people on methadone substitution program. Revista Portuguesa de Enfermagem de Saúde Mental [online]. 2015, n.spe2, pp.78-82. ISSN 1647-2160.

BACKGROUND: Circadian rhythms in humans, as well as being aligned or synchronized by zeitgebers of physical nature, are also synchronized by zeitgebers of social nature. Changing the zeitgebersexposes the person to great possibilities of becoming ill. Several opinions suggest that people addicted to illicit psychoactive substances have their own rhythms that do not synchronize with the rhythms of society, nor with biological rhythms. AIM: To describe the Social Rhythms (SMR) and the social Activity Level Index (ALI) of people in methadone substitution program. METHODS: 47 subjects with opioid dependence attending a methadone substitution program. Instruments: Social Rhythms Metric; Graffar Index and Socio-Demographic and Clinical Data Questionnaire. All ethical procedures were respected. For statistical analysis we used the IBM SPSS Statistics, version 19.0. Was considered statistically significant a p value < .05. RESULTS: The separated/divorced had higher ALI, followed by single and married. The unemployed had higher ALI than employees. Employees showed lower values of SMR. Individuals with children had lower ALI and SMR. The subjects showed regularity of social rhythms, although showing very low level of social activity. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to the significant relationships to socio-demographic variables, the data also show that individuals have social rhythmicity, although with poor social relationships, which indicates a decrease in social interaction, with implicit negative health consequences.

Keywords : Chronobiology disorders; Methadone; Substance-related disorders; Social participation.

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