Abstract
BackgroundDrug abuse, an excessive and persistent self-administration of a drug without regard to the medically or culturally accepted patterns, has been reported amongst teenagers and adolescents in various regions of the world.AimThis study aimed to measure the prevalence of drug use amongst students of junior and senior secondary schools (aged 10–15 years).SettingThis study was conducted at two local government areas in Lagos State.MethodsThe cross-sectional study was carried out in Ikotun or Igando local council development area (LCDA) and Ikoyi LCDA of Lagos State. Students were sampled using stratified random sampling with classes as strata and sampling performed by balloting. The modified WHO Model Drug Use Survey Questionnaire was distributed to the students for self-reporting. Ethical approval was received from district school boards.ResultsA total of 1048 students participated in the survey. In this study, alcohol had the highest lifetime drug prevalence rate (29.1%), followed by pharmaceutical opioids (9%). Gender, educational level, type of school management, and geographical economic distribution were found to be predictors of prevalence of drug use. This study demonstrated significant differences in the prevalence of tobacco and opioids use among students in private and public schools; and documented statistically significant differences in the prevalence of cocaine use between low income and high-income areas in two LCDAs in Lagos, Nigeria.ConclusionPrevalence of lifetime, recent use, and current use of drugs among secondary school students in two LCDAs located in Lagos State, Nigeria were documented with alcohol as the drug with the highest prevalence.
Highlights
Drug abuse, an excessive and persistent self-administration of a drug without regard to the medically or culturally accepted patterns, is a major public health problem all over the world.[1]
The highest current use and lifetime prevalence by percentage were seen amongst alcohol users and most of the students in the two local council development areas (LCDAs) initiated non-medical drug use at age 13–14 years
This study identified a higher prevalence of tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, tranquilisers, sedatives and opioids amongst senior secondary school students than in the junior secondary school students
Summary
An excessive and persistent self-administration of a drug without regard to the medically or culturally accepted patterns, is a major public health problem all over the world.[1]. Haladu[3] identified common factors motivating students to start drug use, including experimental curiosity, peer influence, lack of parental supervision, personality problems, the need for energy to work for long hours, availability of drugs of use, exposure on social media, the need to prevent the occurrence of withdrawal symptoms, purchasing power and cultism. These factors have been confirmed in several findings amongst Nigeria adolescents. An excessive and persistent self-administration of a drug without regard to the medically or culturally accepted patterns, has been reported amongst teenagers and adolescents in various regions of the world
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