Interrelationship Among Smoking Habit, Drug User, and Exposure to Stressful Situations in College Students in Baghdad, Iraq

Background: Iraq is one of the countries of the Middle East which was subjected to violence after the USA invasion in 2003. Therefore, adolescents and young age people are vulnerable to be nicotine dependent and drug-abused. The aim of this study is to assess the interrelationship among the post-traumatic disorder, drug or substance user, nicotine dependence with the study performed in a small sample of college-students recruited in one medical-related college in Baghdad. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried in the Department of the Medical Laboratory Technology at the University College of Asoul Al-Dean in Baghdad during the first half of 2019. A total number of 207 students (125 females and 82 males) aged 23.2±5.2 years were enrolled in this study. The scores of the self-reported questionnaires related to the nicotine dependence (Fagerstrom test), drug abuse screening test (DAST-20), and post-traumatic stress disorder screening tool were analyzed. Results: Male students were commonly cigarette smokers and mild to moderately dependent. In general, both males and females were drug abused with male to female odd ratios ranged between 0.489 and 2.595. Male students were subjected to stressful situations more commonly than females by 1.275–2.373 folds. Females and males with a history of exposure to the stressful situations were significantly more drug abused and nicotine-dependent compared to the corresponding students without stressful situations. Conclusions: Nicotine dependence is not a health problem, and the students react to stressful situations by using medicines and medicinal substances. Violence in Iraq is one of the most common risk factors of using drugs which can be a health problem by 15% of our sample. Keywords : College students, drug abuse, nicotine dependence, Iraq, post-traumatic stress Cite this Article: Lara G. A. Ali, Hiba A. Abdul Sattar, Marwan S.M. Al-Nimer. Interrelationship Among Smoking Habit, Drug User, and Exposure to Stressful Situations in College Students in Baghdad, Iraq. International Journal of Biomedical Engineering . 2019; 5(2): 5–13p.