Estimating the prevalence of high-risk behaviors using network scale-up method in university students of Larestan in 2014

Abstract

Background: University students are prone to high-risk behaviors. The present study aimed to estimate the prevalence of high-risk behaviors among university students in Larestan using network scale-up (NSU) method.Methods: This study was conducted on 390 students of Larestan’s universities to estimate their social network and the prevalence of some high-risk behaviors, including cigarette/hookah smoking, tramadol/opium use, alcohol consumption, and pre/extra-marital sex. The data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. Then, the prevalence of high-risk behaviors was estimated by NSU method using the SPSS statistical software, version 19.Results: The prevalence of cigarette smoking, hookah smoking, tramadol use, opium use, alcohol consumption, and pre/extra-marital sex was 16.44%, 22.66%, 6.93%, 4.08%, 18.79%, and 19.39%, respectively. Based on uncertainty intervals, the prevalence of all the behaviors was significantly higher in males than in females.Conclusion: The results showed the high prevalence of high-risk behaviors in university students of Larestan. Higher estimations of high-risk behaviors in the NSU methods might be attributed to the fact that the respondents may not tell the truth when asked directly about sensitive behaviors.