Effectiveness of Cue Exposure Therapy in the Management of Substance Addiction in a Tertiary Hospital in Enugu, South-East Nigeria: A Comparative Study

Background: Globally, psychoactive substance use and its resulting dependence are gradually attaining a menacing trend. Psychotherapeutic techniques like cue exposure therapy (CET), in combination with other treatment approaches, may potentially produce better outcomes. Objectives: This study aims to determine and compare the sociodemographic determinants, the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and relapse, the distribution of psychoactive substances, the prevalence of relapse, and the mean duration to relapse among the cases (patients who received CET while on treatment) and control group (patients who did not receive CET while on treatment). Method: This is a retrospective cross-sectional interventional study. From the case notes of 75 cases and 75 controls, information concerning sociodemographic characteristics, number of relapses, different psychoactive substances used and duration before relapses (latency to relapse) were retrieved. Results: The results showed a significant association between the number of relapses and sociodemographic variables of age, marital status and occupation. A significant majority of patients used cannabis; patients who received CET had significantly fewer relapses and had a significantly longer duration before relapse (relapse latency period) in comparison with controls (patients who did not receive CET). Conclusion: CET, in combination with other evidence-based treatment modalities, produces better outcome measures in the management of patients with substance dependence.