Prevalence of substance abuse and its associated factors among medical students: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Substance abuse by medical students poses a significant risk not only on their personal life but also on their professional life by putting their patients at risk. Our study aims to find out the prevalence of substance abuse and factors associated with it among medical students. Methods: A descriptive, online-questionnaire based, cross-sectional study was carried out at Gandaki Medical College, a medical school in Gandaki Province of Nepal. Whole sampling technique was used. SPSS-25.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics were used for analyzing demographic and substance abuse related variables. Chi square and Fishers exact test was used to find out if any differences existed in substance abuse by demographic characteristics. Results: Among 420 eligible participants, 219 participated in the survey (response rate: 52.2%). Alcohol was the most commonly used substance with overall lifetime prevalence of 58% followed by cigarette smoking and illegal drug abuse at 21.9% and 13.7%, respectively. The abuse of substances was significantly higher (p<0.05) in males, who were offered substances by friends, and amongst study participants who worked with an intoxicated colleague. The most common reason for substance abuse was “For pleasure, curiosity or to go along with friends” (23%, n=18). Major and minor dysfunction due to alcohol abuse was reported by 8(3.7%) and 33(15.1%) participants, while the same dysfunctions due to drug abuse were reported by 1(0.5%) and 14(6.4%) participants, respectively. Conclusions: The prevalence of substance abuse was high among medical students and was found to be associated with male gender, if offer of substances were made by friends, and amongst those who worked with an intoxicated colleague. This problem of substance abuse among medical students should be addressed timely as failing to do so might have serious consequences on the healthcare system of the country.