[Prevalence of alcohol and drug abuse in young people, 15-35 year old, living in Tehran, Iran]

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted in the first 6 months of the year 2005, to define the prevalence of alcohol, psychostimulant, and psychedelic drug abuse in teenagers and adults ranging 15 to 35 years old living in Tehran. This is a cross-sectional analysis and the study population encompassed persons aged 15 to 35 years living in Tehran. The study was performed from January to June 2005 in all of the 22 urban regions in Tehran. The information was collected through a written survey including demographic and relevant specified variables. The sampling method was clustered randomization in which 8175 individuals were surveyed. After sampling, the information was entered in the data bank and was analyzed with SPSS version 13. The prevalence of psychedelic drug abuse was 3.8%, psychostimulant drug abuse was 7.2%, and alcohol abuse was 25.7%. The mean age in each group of substance abusers was similar to that of the whole population, and the sex distribution was significantly higher in males. Physical exercise, marriage, and the presence of both parents in the family were variables which had a significant correlation with low prevalence of drug and alcohol abuse. Unstable relationships of parents had the most significant positive correlation with drug and alcohol abuse. In this study, we have shown that alcohol abuse has a high prevalence of 25.7% among the individuals of our study population, followed by psychostimulant and psychedelic drug abuse, [7.2% and 3.8% respectively]. Also, parental discord has a significant positive correlation with prevalence of drug and alcohol abuse