Short Communication Predicting craving among cocaine users

Introduction: Craving for cocaine seems to play an important role in the continued use of and dependence on the substance. Aims: to describe characteristics of the craving phenomenon in a sample of cocaine users and to identify those that could predict the appearance of the phenomenon. Method: 205 cocaine users attending an outpatient clinic were interviewed to assess patterns of drug consumption and characteristics of craving for the drug. Findings: Subjects were mostly young (24.8F12.8 years) and male (86.2%). One hundred and two subjects (49.8%) wereaddictedtococaineandtheremainders(50.2%)werenon-addictedoccasionalcocaineusers.Themajorityofsubjects (60.5%) reported having had craving episodes during the previous week. Frequency of cocaine use during the previous month correlated with the number of reported craving fits (r=0.425;pb0.001) and with the duration of the craving fits (r=0.351;pb0.001). Users of crack reported more craving episodes than did the users of snorted cocaine (pb0.001) and thefrequencyofcravingfitswasinverselyproportionaltothedurationofabstinencefromthedrug(r=0.405;pb0.001). Conclusion: Both the method of drug consumption and the abstinence period elapsed since previous drug intake were identified as predictive parameters of craving.