Exploring the Prevalence and Correlates of Substance Abuse Amongst the Adolescents of Dharan, Eastern Nepal.

BACKGROUND: The burden of substance abuse amongst the youths has increased worldwide including Nepal. There is limited data on prevalence of substance abuse among the adolescents. Hence this study aims to determine the prevalence of substance abuse amongst the adolescents of Dharan, Eastern Nepal. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2018 to December 2018. Self-administered structured questionnaire adapted from National Youth Survey sponsored by the Centre for Substance Abuse Prevention was used for data collection from 1125 higher secondary school students. Data was cleaned in Microsoft Excel and analysed using SPSS version 11.5. RESULTS: Prevalence of ever users of tobacco were 46.04% of which the current users were 20.46%, ever users of alcohol were 37.58% of which 15.20% were current users and ever users of drug was 18.19% of which 18.13% were current users. The average age of initiating tobacco, alcohol and drugs were 14.21 ± 3.51, 15.13 ± 7.43 and 14.32 ± 4.41 years respectively. More than half of the drug users (50.71%) used cannabis and the most common reason for using any substance was peer pressure (91.64%). More than one-third (39.5%) purchased any of these substance from local shops. CONCLUSIONS: The study reported significant proportion of adolescents involved in substance abuse. The findings of this study may be beneficial for revising/ updating action plans on prevention and control of substance abuse in Nepal.

Prevalence of Substance Use among Undergraduate Students in a Medical College of Nepal.

INTRODUCTION: The consumption of substances is a common practice among the medical students and their use might reduce educational and clinical performances as well as judgment of the students. This study aims to find out the prevalence of substance use among medical students in BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among medical students of BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences from 15th September 15th to December 15th 2018 after obtaining ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee (Ref: 1394/017). The study was conducted among 326 medical and dental students from first to fifth year by using the stratified sampling method. A self-reported questionnaire was developed which included types, frequency, duration, age to first use, and motives for the use of different substances. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 11.5. RESULTS: The prevalence of substance use among medical students of BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences was 196 (61.4%) at 95% Confidence Interval (56.05-66.75%). Among substance use, the use of alcohol 190 (59.6%), tobacco 90 (28.2%), and marijuana 38 (11.9%) was more prevalent. One hundred forty four (45.2%) male students used more substances as compared to 52 (16.3%) female students. Fun sake or partying 131 (68.9%) was the main motivation of the students to use substances. CONCLUSIONS: The overall substance use among medical students was high compared to other studies. Alcohol was the most common substance misused by the student followed by tobacco and marijuana. Proper counseling and awareness programs about the potential risk of substances are recommended for the betterment of the students.

Price Variation and Availability of Free Medicine for Non-communicable Diseases.

BACKGROUND: Nepal is witnessing rise in non-communicable chronic diseases. Costs of the medicine, availability of the medicine for free in public health sectors and variation of price of medicines may play an important role in the management of chronic disease. The study was undertaken to find out the variation in price of drugs used for treating non communicable diseases among private pharmacies and availability of free essential medicines in public facilities. METHODS: Randomly selected 33 public health centers and 13 pharmacies were included for the study. Availability of free essential medicines for treating selected chronic diseases was assessed in public health centers and percentage price variation in various branded drugs used for treating these diseases was assessed at the consumer level. RESULTS: Out of 89 different formulations, variations between maximum and minimum priced brands of more than 100% were observed in 37 formulations and that of > 200% in 22 formulations. Thirty-seven formulations had more than 100% inter-pharmacy variation. The most commonly available free essential medicines was 4 mg salbutamol (88.57%) while the least available free essential drug was levothyroxine 5 mg (9.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Considerable variation in prices is seen among similar drugs and in prices of same drug in different pharmacies. These factors may have implications in the management of chronic disease in Nepal offsetting the government's effort to control chronic diseases.