Prevalence of drug use, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and measure of socioeconomic-related inequalities of drug use among Iranian people: findings from a national survey

Mehdi Moradinazar,Majid Saeedi,Najmeh Maharlouei,Farzad Jalilian,Reza Malekzadeh,Ali Mohammadi,Ali Akbar Haghdoost,Behrooz Hamzeh,Mohammad Hajizadeh,Yahya Pasdar,Hassan Okati–Aliabad ,Mojtaba Farjam,Marzeyeh Nasiri,Farid Najafi,Mahin Amini,Fariborz Mansour-Ghanaei,Sara Farhang,Saeed Amini,Ebraim Shakiba,Ali Reza Safarpour,Hossein Poustchi,Mehdi Mirzaei-Alavijeh

doi:10.1186/s13011-020-00279-1

Abstract

BackgroundDrug use can lead to several psychological, medical and social complications. The current study aimed to measure and decomposes socioeconomic-related inequalities in drug use among adults in Iran.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study The PERSIAN Cohort is the largest and most important cohort among 18 distinct areas of Iran. This study was conducted on 130,570 adults 35 years and older. A structured questionnaire was applied to collect data. The concentration index (C) was used to quantify and decompose socioeconomic inequalities in drug use.ResultsThe prevalence experience of drug use was 11.9%. The estimated C for drug use was − 0.021. The corresponding value of the C for women and men were − 0.171 and − 0.134, respectively. The negative values of the C suggest that drug use is more concentrated among the population with low socioeconomic status in Iran (p < 0.001). For women, socioeconomic status (SES) (26.37%), province residence (− 22.38%) and age (9.76%) had the most significant contribution to socioeconomic inequality in drug use, respectively. For men, SES (80.04%), smoking (32.04%) and alcohol consumption (− 12.37%) were the main contributors to socioeconomic inequality in drug use.ConclusionsOur study indicated that drug use prevention programs in Iran should focus on socioeconomically disadvantaged population. Our finding could be useful for health policy maker to design and implement effective preventative programs to protect Iranian population against the drug use.

Highlights

Drug use can lead to several psychological, medical and social complications
Our study indicated that 11.9% (24.1% among men versus 2.2% among women) of the adult population in Iran used the illicit drug more than one time in their lifetime
The results of our study indicated that the socioeconomic status (SES) had more contribution to socioeconomic inequality in drug use among men compared to women (80.04% VS 26.37%)

Summary

Introduction

Drug use can lead to several psychological, medical and social complications. The current study aimed to measure and decomposes socioeconomic-related inequalities in drug use among adults in Iran. Drug use (refers to any scope of use of illegal drugs: heroin, amphetamines, barbiturates, cannabis, cocaine, hallucinogens, and opioids) is one of the major health, psychosocial and socioeconomic problems in the world, and can lead to several problems and complications for addicts, their families and society [1, 2]. Several studies have indicated the predictive nature of socioeconomic status (SES) against drug use such as alcohol consumption, opium, cigarette smoking, and cannabis; the association between SES and drug use is complex [10,11,12,13,14]. A higher addiction rate found among individuals with low SES [12] Contrary to these results, some studies [11] reported higher alcohol consumption and cannabis use among high SES

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion