Burden Of Substance Abuse Research Articles

Analyzing the Elements and Ramifications of Substance Abuse among Secondary School Students: A Case of Six Selected Secondary Schools in Chibombo District of Central Province, Zambia.

: This research examining the factors and consequences of drug abuse among secondary school pupils: a case of six selected secondary schools in Chibombo district of central province, Zambia. The study aimed at shedding light on the underlying factors contributing to drug abuse and its impact on the pupil’s population. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods; empirical data was collected from pupils, teachers, school head teachers and education officer through questionnaire guides. The researcher used purposive and simple random sampling, whereby the researcher selected 200 respondents as drowned out from the research population; this included 2 officers from the ministry of education, 6 head teachers, 60 teachers and 132 pupils in six selected secondary schools in Chibombo district of Central province, Zambia. The data which was collected was analysed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS version 25 to produce outputs according to the research objectives. Therefore, the study found out that the burden of substance abuse is still high in our study population and the prevalence was significantly higher among students who had not received any formal teachings on the subject. It therefore becomes imperative to incorporate teachings on substance abuse into the national school curriculum for secondary school students. The National School Health Policy needs to be expanded to incorporate this vital issue. The law enforcement agents regulating drug trafficking in and out of Zambia should begin to beam their search lights on secondary school students.

Prevalence Reasons of Substance Abuse among Adolescent boys of an Underserved Rural Community of Southern Haryana: A Preliminary Study

Background: Early initiation of substance abuse is usually associated with a poor prognosis and a more seriousimpact on health, education, familial, or social relationships. Substance abuse may lead to behavioural problems,relationship difficulties and may cause disruption in studies, and even dropping out of school. This study aims toassess prevalence & reasons of substance abuse among adolescent boys (15-19 years) in rural areas of district Nuh.Materials and Methods: Adolescent boys in the age group of 15 -19 years formed the study population. Houseto-house survey was conducted in all the selected villages for data collection. A complete line listing of maleadolescents (15-19 years) was done in each village. Then study subjects were chosen by simple random sampling.A total of 300 respondent eligible study subjects were interviewed to collect information.Results: The prevalence of substance abuse among study subjects was found to be 42%. Tobacco abuse was 36.0%(n=108, both smokeless and smoked), followed by alcohol 2.33% (n=07), opioids & pharmaceutical products 1.33%each (n=4). Of total 126, substance abuser, 77.7% (n=98) have friends who were indulge in substance abuse. Othermajor reasons for substance abuse were to cheer-up (38.1%), and peer pressure (35.7%). 19.8% subjects startedabusing substance after drop in their academic performance.Conclusion: The burden of substance abuse was 42.0% among study subjects. It’s an alarming situation consideringrural area. As the findings pertain to adolescent boys in the age group of 15 -19 years, preventive strategies need tobe strengthened so as to curb this problem before it shows its deleterious effects in later phase of life.

Exploring the Prevalence and Correlates of Substance Abuse Amongst the Adolescents of Dharan, Eastern Nepal.

The burden of substance abuse amongst the youths has increased worldwide including Nepal. There is limited data on prevalence of substance abuse among the adolescents. Hence this study aims to determine the prevalence of substance abuse amongst the adolescents of Dharan, Eastern Nepal. A cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2018 to December 2018. Self-administered structured questionnaire adapted from National Youth Survey sponsored by the Centre for Substance Abuse Prevention was used for data collection from 1125 higher secondary school students. Data was cleaned in Microsoft Excel and analysed using SPSS version 11.5. Prevalence of ever users of tobacco were 46.04% of which the current users were 20.46%, ever users of alcohol were 37.58% of which 15.20% were current users and ever users of drug was 18.19% of which 18.13% were current users. The average age of initiating tobacco, alcohol and drugs were 14.21 ± 3.51, 15.13 ± 7.43 and 14.32 ± 4.41 years respectively. More than half of the drug users (50.71%) used cannabis and the most common reason for using any substance was peer pressure (91.64%). More than one-third (39.5%) purchased any of these substance from local shops. The study reported significant proportion of adolescents involved in substance abuse. The findings of this study may be beneficial for revising/ updating action plans on prevention and control of substance abuse in Nepal.

Prevalence of Psychoactive Substance Abuse Among Students in Ethiopia: A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Substance uses were seen in 18-25 years old age groups who are more than 40% world population, from which Africa was the region with the highest proportion accounting 60% in 2016. on Sub-Saharan African countries on substance abuse showed that burden of substance abuse among adolescents was 41.6% with the highest in Central Africa (55.5%) followed by East Africa (48.99% and West Africa (38.3%). Currently, it is a neglected health problem in developing countries; even it mainly affects the younger and productive age groups. Methods: A three stage search strategy was conducted on PubMed/Medline, Science direct and African Online Journal and grey literature search was conducted on Google scholars up to ten pages. The Heterogeneity among the included studies was checked with forest plot, χ2 test, I2 test, and the p-values. Publication bias was checked with a funnel plot and objective diagnostic test was conducted with Egger's correlation, Begg's regression tests, and Trim and fill method. Result: The overall prevalence of psychoactive substance abuse was 30% (95% CI: 25, 36). The Subgroup analysis revealed that the lifetime prevalence of more than two substance abuse was 38% (95% CI: 30, 47) whereas the prevalence of Khat and cigarette smoking was 22% (95% CI: 17, 28) and 30% (95% CI: 24, 36) respectively. Conclusion: The review revealed that one third of the high school and higher education students used different psychoactive substance. Policy makers and other stakeholders should implement mitigating strategies to control the production, usage, advertisement on media, and distribution of psychoactive substances. Funding Statement: No funding was obtained from any organization. Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that there are no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: Ethical clearance and approval were obtained from the ethical review board of the College of Health Science and Medicine.

Rewarding Effect of Catha edulis (Khat) and the Sex Differences to the Responses in Swiss Albino Mice.

BackgroundBurden of substance abuse is becoming a worldwide problem. One of the psychostimulant plants widely consumed in Ethiopia and other East African countries is Catha edulis Forsk (khat). Most of the users claim that its stimulatory effect is the determinant factor that makes them use. However, its rewarding and reinforcing potential and variation between sexes have not been investigated. This study was, therefore, designed to measure the rewarding effect of khat extract (ke) in the addiction mice model of both sexes.Materials and MethodsForty-eight Swiss albino mice of both sexes (age 6–7 weeks) weighing 21–33 gm were used. The mice were conditioned to ke (100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg b.w). The control group was conditioned to tween 80 (2%, v/v) in distilled water. The reinforcing effect of khat was evaluated using the conditioned place preference paradigm. The classical pairing to the extract was made using the place conditioning box. Post-conditioning tests have been conducted four times and the average values were taken for analysis using SPSS version 21.0.ResultsTime spent in the khat-paired compartment was significantly higher for mice conditioned to ke 200 mg/kg (p<0.05) and ke 300 mg/kg (p<0.001). The rewarding effect of khat was strong in females at a higher dose when compared to the same sex of mice conditioned to the vehicle (p<0.001) or male mice conditioned to the same dose of khat extract (p<0.05). Repeated administration increased khat rewarding sensitization at all doses. Though the crude khat extract did not affect the food consumption and total body weight, water consumption was significantly less in mice received ke 100 mg/kg (p<0.01), where it was significantly higher in mice received ke 300 mg/kg (p<0.01). Sniffing (p<0.05) and climbing (p<0.05) psychomotor activities of mice were also affected by the crude khat extract.ConclusionMice showed place conditioning to khat extract, and the response was significantly higher in female mice. The crude khat extract did not affect food consumption and total body weight. The mechanisms behind the rewarding response of khat extract and sexual differences should be investigated.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND RISK OF HOSPITALIZATION FOR HEART FAILURE

Substance abuse has increased in recent years. The burden of substance abuse among patients with heart failure (HF) is poorly characterized. In this period prevalence study, we identified substance abuse via diagnosis code or urine drug screen among patients with HF treated at the University of