Prevalence and correlates of substance use among undergraduates in a developing country

Abstract

Background: Psychoactive substance use is a major global public health issue. Use of psychoactive substances has been associated with negative consequences among students.
 Objective: The study assessed the prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of psychoactive substance use among un- dergraduate students in a Nigerian university.
 Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study of 763 undergraduate students of Imo State Uni- versity, Owerri, Nigeria, recruited using multi-stage sampling technique. Data on the socio-demographic characteristics and pattern of psychoactive substance use were collected using a structured questionnaire.
 Results: The lifetime rate of psychoactive substance use was 84.5%. Alcohol had the highest rate of lifetime (82.5%) and 12-month (61.1%) use. There was a similar rate of lifetime use of psychoactive substances among males (86.1%) and females (83.4%). Age (p<0.05) and place of residence (p<0.05) were significantly associated with lifetime psychoactive substance use. Catholics (OR:1.43; 1.03 – 1.99), whose friend (OR:1.94; 1.39 – 2.71), roommate (OR:3.06; (1.62 – 5.78) or broth- er (OR:1.22; 0.77 – 1.93) uses psychoactive substances were significantly more likely to have used substances in the past 12-months.
 Conclusion: There is a high rate of psychoactive substance use among the students. Age, religion, place of residence, family and peer use of substances are important determinants of psychoactive substance use.
 Keywords: Substance use; undergraduates; Nigeria.

Prevalence Of Substance Use and Related Behaviors Among Tertiary Students: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Yaoundé, Cameroon

“…The prevalence of cigarette smoking was 23.4%, which is comparable to the rates found in France, Myanmar and Ethiopia [12,20,21], but higher than those reported in other studies conducted in Nigeria [11,26]. However, it was lower than the rates found in a study conducted in Kenya (42.8%) [15].…”

Prescription Opioids and New Psychoactive Substances Use in Nigeria: A Systematic Review and Policy Implications

“…Ten studies documented the prevalence rates for NMU of tramadol. Lifetime use of tramadol ranged from 8.8% -74.2% (Aguocha & Nwefoh, 2021;Diwe et al, 2017;Johnson et al, 2017), 3.95% for past month use and 7.3% for past 12 months use (Aguocha & Nwefoh, 2021) among university students. The prevalence rate for the NMU of tramadol in the past month was 39% among secondary school pupils (Idowu et al, 2018), which was higher compared to the 3.9% for university students (Aguocha & Nwefoh, 2021) and 16.8% for artisans (mechanics and hairstylists) (Agberotimi et al, 2020).…”

Polydrug Use among Students in a Public University in a Lower Middle‐Income Country

“…Substance use prevalence rate among university students in Africa has been reported to be as high as 62.7% to 84.5% [21,33,34]. The most commonly consumed substances are alcohol, tobacco products, and Cannabis [21,[33][34][35][36].…”

“…Substance use prevalence rate among university students in Africa has been reported to be as high as 62.7% to 84.5% [21,33,34]. The most commonly consumed substances are alcohol, tobacco products, and Cannabis [21,[33][34][35][36]. Predictors of drug use in this subpopulation include being male, residing off-campus, having a roommate or friend who is already using drugs, being sexually active, having multiple sexual partnerships, infrequent attendance at religious fellowships, and depression [26,33,35,37].…”