Page 20 - GALENIKA MEDICAL JOURNAL

Abstract
Introduction: The article is focused on sleep disorders in people addicted to psychoactive substances. In the extensive
introductory part, the complexity of this problem is presented from etiological and pathophysiological aspects. Insomnia
stands out as the most prominent problem during withdrawal crises. In the second part of the work, a pilot study of the
treatment of insomnia in opiate abstinence crisis was presented.

The aim of the article was to evaluate the effectiveness of midazolam in treating insomnia in opioid addicts during the
abstinence crisis.

Methods: The research was conducted as a retrospective study, an analysis of the medical history of opioid addicts
treated at the Addictions Department of the Psychiatry Clinic of the Clinical Center of Vojvodina in Novi Sad. The analysis
includes 60 medical histories of people addicted to opiates who were treated in the period 2015-2021. The experimental
group consisted of 30 people addicted to opiates who received midazolam, and the control group consisted of 30 people
addicted to opiates who received diazepam or lorazepam. We monitored the intensity of insomnia in patients of both
groups using the clinical scale for opiate withdrawal syndrome (SOWS) - insomnia variable. The data was collected and
statistically processed in the program Statistica for Windows 10.

Results: Irritability (Chi-square: 13.125; df-1; p=0.002) and insomnia (Chi-square=7.423; df=1; p=0.042) were statistically
significantly less frequently registered in patients prescribed midazolam for sleep.

Conclusion: When administered with midazolam, lower doses of anxiolytics are needed during the day. During the
abstinence crisis, midazolam shows a positive effect on insomnia and indirectly on irritability.

Keywords: insomnia, substance use disorder, treatment

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20 DOI: 10.5937/Galmed2203016D