Prevalence of substance abuse among high school students in field practising area of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Medical College, Bengaluru
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20183987Keywords:
Substance abuse, High school children, Prevalence, Predisposing factorsAbstract
Background: Substance abuse is an increasing public health problem. Use of tobacco, alcohol, and other substances is a global problem and affects many children and adolescents. Abuse of substances exposes the youth to several physical, psychological and social consequences. Objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of substance abuse amongst high school students in selected schools of Bengaluru and to identify factors predisposing to substance abuse.
Methods: Type of study was cross-sectional, study was done from November 2017 to January 2018, study subjects were high school students, sample size was 300, tool for study was structured questionnaire, descriptive analysis done using Microsoft Excel.
Results: Out of 300 subjects 10% agreed that they have done abuse of substances. Most of them started it at age below 15 years. Most common reason to start was for fun.
Conclusions: Substance abuse was present among high school students and most commonly abused substance was tobacco in the form of cigarettes and most common reason was for fun followed by peer pressure and low marks.
References
WHO study group on drug dependence. WHO Tech Rep Ser No 407. 1969: 6–8.
Tripathi BM, Lal R. Substance abuse in children and adolescents. Indian J Pediatr. 1999;66:557–67.
Nadeem A, Rubeena B, Agarwal VK, Piyush K. Substance abuse in India. Pravara Med Rev. 2009;1(4):4-6.
WHO. Techn. Res. Ser. No.886: 1999. p. 48.
WHO (2002c). The world health report 2002: Reducing risks, promoting healthy life style. Geneva, World Health Organization.
World Health Organization (WHO). Tobacco or Health: A global status report. Geneva: WHO, 1997.
Srivastava A, Pal HR, Dwivedi SN. National household survey of drug abuse in India. Report submitted to the Indian Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime, 2003.
Conducting school surveys on drug abuse. Global assessment programme on drug abuse toolkit module 3. United Nations publication, United Nations New York: 2003: 53-60.
Tsering D, Pal R, Dasgupta A. Licit and illicit substance use by adolescent students in eastern India: Prevalence and associated risk factors. J Neurosci Rural Pract. 2010;1:76-81.
Sutherland I, Willner P. Patterns of alcohol, cigarette and illicit drug use in English adolescents. Addiction. 1998;93:1199–208.
Belcher HM, Shinitzky HE. Substance abuse in children: prediction, protection and prevention. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1998;152:952–60.