Prevalence of lifetime substance use and its association with socio-demographic and social network factors: a population-based cross-sectional study

ABSTRACTBackground The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and predictors of lifetime substance use among students in Tehran universities.Methods In this population-based cross-sectional study, 710 students in four universities, 32 faculties, and 96 classes in the multistage cluster sampling were recruited. Data were collected using self-reporting questionnaires. Descriptive bivariate and multivariate tests at the significant level of 0.05 were reported. All bivariate data with the p value of less than 0.2 were entered into the logistic regression analysis to determine the adjusted effect and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of substance use.Results The prevalence of lifetime substance use in university students was 16.01% (N = 114, CI: 13.4–18.9). The results showed a significant difference between those who reported lifetime use of substances and those who did not in terms of contact with substance use-related social networks (OR = 1.89 CI: 1.39–2.59), intimacy with substance use-related social networks (OR = 1.60 CI: 1.35–1.94), addiction potential (OR = 1.02 CI: 1.01–1.04), use of substance by father (OR = 11.48, 95% CI: 4.12–31.99), gender (male, OR = 2.71, 95% CI: 1.44–5.11), marital status (married, OR = 9.41, 95% CI: 4.04–21.91), and education level (doctoral and post-doctoral degree, OR = 3.12, 95% CI: 1.36–7.13).Conclusion Universities along with organizations dealing with substance use prevention should increase students’ awareness about the dangers and effects of substance use by providing the necessary training and counseling programs.KEYWORDS: Lifetime substance usesocial networkstudentcross-sectional studyrisk factor AcknowledgmentsThe authors would like to thank the students who participated in this study.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Authors contributionsStudy concept and design NSA, SA and SEK. Analysis and interpretation of data SEK. Drafting the manuscript SEK, NA and MA. Critical revision of the manuscript MAMG. Field investigation supervision NSA. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.Data availability statementAll data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article, and the datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.Ethics approval and informed consentThis study was conducted following in accordance with the declaration of Helsinki. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran (IR.IUMS.REC.1398.175); which approved all the procedures of the study including written informed consent. All participants were informed about the aim and objectives of the study, and written informed consent was obtained from all of them before taking part in the study. Data collection was performed in the Persian language and anonymous.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by Iran University of Medical Sciences (Grant number: 98-1-45-14074).