Socio-demographic characteristics associated with cigarettes smoking, drug abuse and alcohol drinking among male medical university students in Iran

Abstract

Background: Substance abuse is one of the most complicated social problems. Understanding socio-demographic characteristics of those who abuse substances could help deal with this problem more efficiently. The main objective of this study was to determine socio-demographic characteristics associated with alcohol drinking, cigarettes smoking and drug abuse among a sample of male medical university students in Iran.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2014 among 425 male medical college students randomly selected with the proportional to size among different faculties in Isfahan and Kermanshah medical universities in Iran. A self-report written questionnaire was applied to collect data. Data were analyzed by the SPSS-20.

Results: Mean age of the respondents was 19.9 yr (ranging from 18 to 22 yr). About 19.4%, 3.9%, and 10.1% of the respondents had history of cigarette smoking, drug use, and alcohol drinking during the past three months, respectively. Logistic regression showed that mother's educational level, living place, economic status, and parents' divorce were the most influential predictive factors on substance abuse.

Conclusions: Considering the high prevalence of substance abuse (especially smoking and alcohol drinking), it seems essential to design educational interventions to prevent substance abuse, paying attention to predictive factors mentioned above, among college students.

Keywords: Alcohol Drinking; Drug Abuse; Iran; Smoking; University.