Craving in crack cocaine users according to individual and behavioral characteristics.

OBJECTIVE

to analyze variation in craving levels according to individual and behavioral characteristics of crack cocaine users at two public treatment services in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

METHODS

this was a cross sectional study with a sample of 133 participants; the Cocaine Craving Questionnaire scale was used to verify craving levels.

RESULTS

86% of interviewees had moderate and severe craving levels; regarding individual factors, a higher level of severe craving was found in women (45%), those with brown skin color/"mestizos" (60%), low schooling (46%) and minor psychiatric disorders (59%); regarding behavioral factors, the level of severe craving was higher in users who divorced the last year (44%), those who had problems with the Law (61%), those who practiced violence acts (57%), those using more than four psychoactive substances (67%), and those with heavy crack consumption (57%).

CONCLUSION

almost all crack users were found to have high craving levels; these were proportionally higher in some individual and behavioral variables.