Prevalence of substance abuse in medical students of Kurdistan University

ABSTRACT

Substance abuse is one of the most prevalent problems in young adults. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence rate of substance abuse among Kurdistan university students. This was a cross sectional and descriptive analytic study. The sampling method was census and sample size included all students of Kurdistan University [1186 student] in 2007. The data were collected and recorded in a questionnaire for each subject. Data were introduced into SPSS software and analyzed by mean of Chi Square test. The results of this study indicated the percentage of students who reported usage of substance one or more times in their lives as following alcohol 17.1, cannabis 4.7%, opium 4.8%, heroin 0.7%, ecstasy 2.7, and other substances 5.2. Ongoing abuse of different substances was assessed as following alcohol 1.1%, cannabis 0.1%, opium 0.1%, heroin 0.1%, ecstasy 0.1%, other substances 0.2. There was a correlation between substance abuse and male gender [p<0.001], age [p<0.001], living with friends [p<0.001], and being medical student [p<0.01]. There was no correlation between substance abuse and marriage and father education. All substances, except for opium, had been offered to the medical students for the first time by their friends. Curiosity was the most common motivation for cannabis and opium use and pleasure was the most common reason for alcohol, heroin and ecstasy use. The mean age of first use for different substances was 18.6, 18.3, 19.5, 20.3, and 20.2 years for alcohol, opium, heroin, ecstasy, and cannabis. Substance use among Kurdistan university students was similar to other universities of Iran. Although substance abuse by female students was much lower than male ones in Kurdistan University, it was higher in comparison to the results of studies in other universities