Prevalence of substance abuse among adolescent school students in Zagazig

Abstract

Introduction The 20th century ended with the conviction that drug abuse was a global problem and thus global solutions were required. This is a cross-sectional study that was carried out in Zagazig Center, Sharkia governorate, in the year of 2013 (September to October). Participants and methods The study included 204 preparatory and secondary school students. The mean age of the participants was15.26 ± 1.59 years. The school students were met in their classrooms, in the presence of their teachers, and assessed for substance abuse using the Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT) and the Drug Use Disorders Identification Test-Extended (DUDIT-E); urine samples were then collected for all participants during the interviews using the multidrug one-step test. Results The prevalence of smoking and substance abuse among school students were 8.3 and 8.8%, respectively, and the majority of them used substances once a month or less. The most common substances used by the students included tramadol, cannabis, and alcohol (83.3, 27.8, and 16.7%, respectively), with a mean age of onset of smoking of 16.06 ± 1.39 years and a mean age of onset of substance abuse of 16.5 ± 1.098 years. Conclusion Substance abuse and smoking were common among adolescents, and the age at onset was almost the same for both. DUDIT and DUDIT-E may significantly contribute to more effective screening of drug problems in research and clinical settings with groups at risk and it may be useful for mapping drug use among different groups in public health contexts.