Illicit substance use among Tunisian college students: prevalence and risk factors

Abstract

Background Illicit substance use among college students represents one of the most complicated social problems. Studying its predictors could help deal with this problem more efficiently. Aims To determine the prevalence of life time illicit substance use and its predictors among Tunisian college students. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in five colleges in the region of Sousse, Tunisia in the 2012-2013 school year. A sample of 556 college students responded to an anonymous self-administrated questionnaire. Collected data concerned socio-demographic characteristics and substances use. Results The mean age of students was 21.8 ± 2.2 years. Females represented 51.8% of participants. Among respondents: 31 (5.6%) had used illicit substance at least once. Cannabis was the main substance used by 26 (4.7%) students. The average age of the illicit substance use initiation was 19 (±2.5) years while it was almost 17 (±3) years for both tobacco and alcohol use initiations. Proportions of male students and academic failure were significantly more important among illicit substance users than among non users. While the most influential factors on illicit substance use were: alcohol use, tobacco use and low socioeconomic level. Conclusion This study highlights the strong association between the other risk behaviors and illicit drug use. Future interventions should focus on the whole risk behaviors simultaneously at late adolescence with regard to the environmental context.

Syndromic Management of Female Sexually Transmitted Infections at Primary Care Level .A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study Tunisia (Monastir 2007-2017)

“…• An upward trend in STIs: Consist with our ndings, WHO prevalence estimates of the four curable STIs among women have shown an overall positive trend from 2012 to 2016 globally and especially in the EMR (25).This trend of declared STIs showed that we are not on the right way to reach 2030 goals of eliminating STIs as a public health problem. It could be explained by, rst, the change in lifestyle, sexual behavior and other factors such as addiction which is currently a health problem in Tunisia where illicit substance use among college students represents one of the most complicated social problems (31). Secondly,it could also be due to the low sensitivity of the syndromic approach to detect asymptomatic cases that would be potential sources for infections dissemination.…”

Cannabis Use in Muslim Youth

“…According to Chekib et al, there are several consequences of cannabis consumption [12]. It increases rates of early death, disability, and chronic disease as well as has a great impact on the social, cultural, and economic status of individuals and the community.…”

“…It has also been associated with academic underperformance and unwanted sexual encounters. In Tunisia, a study monitoring the prevalence rate of illicit drug use and its predictors in college students using a self-administrated questionnaire found that almost 5% of the participants were using cannabis and experiencing significant academic failure [12]. In Saudi Arabia, using cannabis while driving is equivalent to driving under the influence of alcohol [13].…”

Syndromic Management of Female Sexually Transmitted Infections at Primary Care Level in Tunisia (Monastir 2007-2017)

“…Consist with our ndings, WHO prevalence estimates of the four curable STIs among women have shown an overall positive trend from 2012 to 2016 globally and especially in the EMR (25).This trend of declared STIs showed that we are not on the right way to reach 2030 goals of eliminating STIs as a public health problem. It could be explained by, rst, the change in lifestyle, sexual behavior and other factors such as addiction which is currently a health problem in Tunisia where illicit substance use among college students represents one of the most complicated social problems (31). Secondly,it could also be due to the low sensitivity of the syndromic approach to detect asymptomatic cases that would be potential sources for infections dissemination.…”