title: Socioeconomic characteristics of alcohol and other substance users, seeking treatment in Sikkim, North East India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study was conducted to generate information for better understanding of socioeconomic and CAGE characteristics of alcohol and other substance users who were undergoing treatment in Sikkim.
  
  
  METHODS
  Socioeconomic and CAGE questionnaire was administered to alcohol and other substance abusers of Sikkim (n = 241) who were undergoing treatment in different treatment centers of Sikkim. Information was collected on printed instrument after taking participant's consent and data was statistically analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Male participants (93.8%) outnumbered female (6.2%). Majority of the sample were either in the school dropout group or school completed (36.1%) group. Most of the samples were occupationally unemployed, urban residents, Nepali by ethnicity, single, and Hindu (48.5%) by religion. Minimum age for starting of alcohol and drug was 5 years and 7 years respectively. Knowledge about AIDS and its transmission was satisfactory. All the four CAGE characteristics were present in majority of samples.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Climate, geographical location, wide and easy availability of alcohol in Sikkim make this state vulnerable for alcohol abuse. Alcohol drinking among parents, sibling and friends found to be important risk factor. Outreach to the community for better acceptability of treatment is an important area to fill the gap of treatment demand and treatment supply.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, Gangtok, Sikkim, India.
authors.forename: Sunil Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Pandey
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, Gangtok, Sikkim, India.
authors.forename: Debranjan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Datta
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, Gangtok, Sikkim, India.
authors.forename: Sanjiba
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dutta
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Medical Superintendent, STNM Hospital, Government of Sikkim, Gangtok, Sikkim, India.
authors.forename: Yogesh
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.affiliation: Division of Toxicology, Regional Occupational Health Centre (Eastern), National Institute of Occupational Health, Indian Council of Medical Research, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chakrabarti
keywords: Abuse; Sikkim; alcohol; socioeconomic; treatment