Introduction : The objective of this study was to provide a trend, and subject analysis on researches conducted in Iran on substance abuse in the last 3 decades.

 Method: All scientific papers published in Iran during a 30-year period (1973-2002) in national as well as international scientific journals were assessed for this study. These papers are indexed in the newly established database for Iranian Mental Health Researches, called IranPsych. The total number of 3031 articles were found and evaluated by six psychiatrists and psychologists with good inter-rater reliability.

 Results: Out of 3031 papers, 7.19 percent (218 papers) were on substance abuse. Research on substance related disorders were more than any other mental disorders, except mood disorders. About 71 percent of these papers were published in the last 5 years. Clinical studies, basic science, psychological sciences and epidemiologic studies included almost all research areas in a descending order. Two third of papers were on opioids. There were only 14 and 2 researches on physical treatment and psychosocial management, respectively.

 Conclusion: This study shows that the proportion of the researches conducted on substance abuse is significant and also shows a positive trend in recent years. Nevertheless, according to the prevalence of substance use in Iran, this scientific output is not enough. Moreover, interventional and social studies are very limited and have not contributed to development of evidence based management of substance abuse and dependency in Iran.

Hakim Research Journal   2006 8(4) 37-44.