Assessment of knowledge and prevalence of drugs and substance abuse among the students of a selected tertiary health institution in Kano, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Drugs and substance abuse is one of the commonest emerging public health problems among both adults and adolescents in developing countries. This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge and prevalence of drugs and substance abuse among the students of a selected tertiary health institution in Kano, Nigeria.Methods: A multistage sampling technique was used during selection of the participants and the study was conducted for a period of 4 months (July to November, 2019). A total of 151 students from school of health technology Kano, Nigeria were recruited and the data was collected using a self-administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed by the use of statistical software (SPSS version 20.0) and the results were presented in the form of figures and tables with frequencies and percentage. In addition, a statistical test of significance (x2 test) was applied to determine the significant associations between variables, p≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The mean age of study participants was 27.2±6.3 years and majority of them (64.2%) were between 20-25 years. More than nine-tenths (94.0%) of the respondents were Hausa/Fulani, and 32.5% of the respondents were SCHEW students. Little above half (53.6%) of the respondents were earning less than 11000 naira per month and 62.3% of the respondents sourced the information regarding drugs and substance abuse from their friends. All the respondents have seen cigarettes before and 57.6% have seen inhalants (such as glue, petrol etc). Regarding the reason for substance/drug abuse; about 68.9% stated that it’s an addiction and based to the factors enhancing drugs and substance abuse; 72.7% mentioned that it was due to peer pressure, and 72.2% mentioned unemployment. Based on societal factors that promotes drugs and substance abuse; more than three-fifths (64.9%) mentioned that it was reluctant attitude of people and 20.5% mentioned it was some cultural factors.Conclusions: The prevalence of drug and substance abuse was 18.5%. Nevertheless more than three-fifths of them had good level of knowledge regarding drug and substance abuse. The ethnicity of the respondents was found significantly associated with level of knowledge regarding drug and substance abuse. There is need for more focused attention by parents, teachers, government and general public on the problem of drug and substance use.