The prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of khat chewing in Butajira, Ethiopia

Abstract

A house-to-house survey was carried out in a rural Ethiopian community to determine the prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of khat use. A total of 10,468 adults were interviewed. Of these, 58% were female, and 74% were Muslim. More than half of the study population (55.7%) reported lifetime khat chewing experience and the prevalence of current use was 50%. Among current chewers, 17.4% reported taking khat on a daily basis; 16.1% of these were male and 3.4% were female. Various reasons were given for chewing khat; 80% of the chewers used it to gain a good level of concentration for prayer. Muslim religion, smoking and high educational level showed strong association with daily khat chewing.