Drug dependence in patients in psychiatric hospitals in Switzerland. A survey conducted in nine psychiatric hospitals from 1983-1986.

The present article forms part of an investigation which has been carried on continuously under the auspices of the Conference of Swiss Sanitary Directors with the aim of providing evidence on the frequency of drug dependence in inpatients of psychiatric hospitals. The investigation is an important source of information concerning trends in drug dependence patterns. In this study, it was possible to observe a change in preference with regard to the use of analgetic compounds over the past years. The decreasing use of barbiturates was found to have been replaced by an increased intake of benzodiazepines. Dependence on heroin has increasingly been observed in recent years. On the whole, multiple drug dependence combined with alcoholism are at present the most frequently observed forms of dependence.