survey of youth knowledge attitude and behavior toward ecstasy use in Northestern districts of Tehran

ABSTRACT

This study evaluated the knowledge and attitude of Tehran northwestern young population toward ecstasy use and its consequences. In this descriptive, analytical-crossectional study, 400 young [247males, 153 females] persons residing in northwestern districts of Tehran were assessed by a demographic and knowledge, attitude and behavior questionnaire. They were selected via the multi-stage random sampling. The data were analyzed through the descriptive statistic methods and x [2]. 41% of samples had good knowledge, 50%had moderate knowledge and 9% had low knowledge. 32%saples had good attitude, 44% had moderate attitude and 24% had bad attitude 26%of respondents have reported that they have used the ecstasy tablets. One important finding is that 31%of ecstasy user are also addicted to other kinds of narcotics. 44.9%of males and 35.3%of females were moderately aware of the dangerous outcomes of the ecstasy use.25.9%of males and 20.3%femles regarded the ecstasy use a bad and dangerous act. In this study there was a significant relationship between attitude and gender [p=0.035].also there was a significant relationship between ecstasy use and gender [p<0.001] and a notable relationship between ecstasy use and education [p=0.008] A considerable percent of respondents was not aware of the dangerous outcomes of the ecstasy and not show the expected negative attitude toward this drug and a vast percentage of them had used the drug