title: The relationship of opium addiction with coronary artery disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is some controversy regarding the effect of opium addiction on the coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of this study was to determine the association between chronic opium consumption and CAD.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study had a case-control design. The patients recruited to the study were selected from angiography files in Department of Cardiology in Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. The comparison was done between CAD patients and normal subjects. Opium addiction was diagnosed by patient self-report and confirmed with interview based on DSM-IV criteria. Odds ratio with 95% confidence interval were estimated by unconditional logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The risk factor of CAD was the same in the two study groups. The significant difference in opium consumption was demonstrated between CAD patients and normal coronary artery subjects (OR=3.8, 95%CI=1.5-9.5). Because of the strong association between cigarette smoking and opium addiction, analysis was done in smoker and non-smoker groups separately. Logistic regression showed opium addiction was the independent risk factor for CAD in non-smokers after adjusting to other CAD risk factors (OR=38, 95%CI=2.7-531.7), but in cigarette smokers opium was not a significant risk factor (OR=13.2, 95%CI=0.85-206.5).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We confirmed that the opium was an independent risk factor for CAD. Health managers and policy makers should try to aware general population and prepare many preventive programs against substance abuse.
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor of Cardiology, Department of Cardiology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Masoomi
authors.forename: Mohammad Arash
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ramezani
authors.forename: Hadi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Karimzadeh