Abstract
BackgroundCannabis dependence in adolescents predicts increased risks of using other illicit drugs, poor academic performance and reporting psychotic symptoms. The prevalence of cannabis use was estimated two decades ago in Zambia among secondary school students. There are no recent estimates of the extent of the problem; further, correlates for its use have not been documented in Zambia. The objective of study was to estimate the current prevalence of cannabis use and its socio-demographic correlates among in-school adolescents.MethodsWe conducted secondary analysis of data that was obtained from the 2004 Zambia Global School-Based Health Survey. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the socio-demographic factors associated with cannabis use.ResultsA total of 2,257 adolescents participated in the survey of which 53.9% were females. The overall prevalence of self reported ever-used cannabis was 37.2% (34.5% among males and 39.5% among females). In multivariate analysis, males were 8% (AOR = 0.92; 95% CI [0.89, 0.95]) less likely to have ever smoked cannabis. Compared to adolescents aged 16 years or older, adolescents aged 14 years were 45% (AOR = 1.45; 95% CI [1.37, 1.55]) more likely, and those aged 15 years were 44% (AOR = 0.56; 95% CI [0.53, 0.60]) less likely to report to have ever smoked cannabis. Other factors that were significantly associated with cannabis use were history of having engaged in sexual intercourse (AOR = 2.55; 95% CI [2.46, 2.64]), alcohol use (AOR = 4.38; 95% CI [4.24, 4.53]), and having been bullied (AOR = 1.77; 95% CI [1.71, 1.83]). Adolescents who reported being supervised by parents during free time were less likely to have smoked cannabis (AOR = 0.92; 95% CI [0.88, 0.95]).ConclusionsThe use of cannabis is prevalent among Zambian in-school adolescents. Efforts to prevent adolescents’ psychoactive drug use in Zambia should be designed considering the significant factors associated with drug use in the current study.
Highlights
Cannabis dependence in adolescents predicts increased risks of using other illicit drugs, poor academic performance and reporting psychotic symptoms
The Global School-based Health Survey (GSHS) developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with UNICEF, UNESCO, and UNAIDS with technical assistance from the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia, United States, aims to provide data on health and social behaviours among inschool adolescents
Comparing our prevalence to those reported in the African region, we note that our prevalence is higher than the 26% reported in Port Harcourt in Nigeria [2] and the 16.9% reported in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa [6], and much higher than that reported in Zimbabwe of 3.4% in rural schools [4] and 6.2% in both rural and urban schools [5]
Summary
Cannabis dependence in adolescents predicts increased risks of using other illicit drugs, poor academic performance and reporting psychotic symptoms. The prevalence of cannabis use was estimated two decades ago in Zambia among secondary school students. The objective of study was to estimate the current prevalence of cannabis use and its socio-demographic correlates among in-school adolescents. Cannabis use among adolescents varies between countries and within countries in Africa. Eneh and Stanley [2] found that 26% of secondary school students in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, used cannabis. Abdulkarim et al [3] reported that 3.4% of students in Ilorin, Nigeria, currently used cannabis. In Zimbabwe, Khan and Arnott [4] found that 3.4% of students in rural secondary schools had ever used cannabis. Another study in Zimbabwe by Acuda and Eide [5] found that 6.2% of students in rural and urban secondary schools had ever used cannabis. Definition of cannabis use varied from prevalence of cannabis use at the time of the survey, in the previous one month to the survey, to ever use cannabis
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