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. 2024 Feb 16;24(1):132.
doi: 10.1186/s12888-024-05561-1.

Epidemiology of substance and opium use among adult residents of Tehran; a comprehensive report from Tehran cohort study (TeCS)

Farzad Masoudkabir #  1 , Akbar Shafiee #  2 , Amirhossein Heidari  1   3 , Negin Sadat Hosseini Mohammadi  1   4 , Kiarash Tavakoli  1   4 , Arash Jalali  5   6 , Sepehr Nayebirad  1 , Farshid Alaeddini  2 , Soheil Saadat  7 , Ali Vasheghani-Farahani  1 , Saeed Sadeghian  2 , Vicente Artola Arita  8 , Mohamamdali Boroumand  2 , Abbasali Karimi  2
Affiliations

Epidemiology of substance and opium use among adult residents of Tehran; a comprehensive report from Tehran cohort study (TeCS)

Farzad Masoudkabir et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: The prevalence and burden of substance and opium use have increased worldwide over the past decades. In light of rapid population changes in Tehran, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of opium and other substance use among adult residents in Tehran, Iran.

Method: From March 2016 to March 2019, we utilized data from 8 296 participants in the Tehran Cohort Study recruitment phase (TeCS). We calculated the age-sex-weighted prevalence of substance use and the geographic distribution of substance use in Tehran. We also used logistic regression analysis to determine possible determinants of opium use.

Result: We analyzed data from 8 259 eligible participants with complete substance use data and the average age of participants was 53.7 ± 12.75 years. The prevalence of substance use was 5.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.6- 7.1%). Substance use was more common in males than females (Prevalence: 10.5% [95% CI: 8.6- 12.6%] vs. 0.5% [95% CI: 0.2- 1.2%], respectively). The age-sex weighted prevalence of substance use was 5.4% (95% CI: 4.6-7.1%). Moreover, opium was the most frequently used substance by 95.8% of substance users. Additionally, we found that male gender (Odds ratio [OR]: 12.1, P < 0.001), alcohol intake (OR: 1.3, P = 0.016), and smoking (OR: 8.5, P < 0.001) were independently associated with opium use.

Conclusions: We found that the prevalence of substance use in Tehran was 5.6%, and opium was the most frequently used substance. In addition, male gender, lower levels of education, alcohol, and tobacco consumption are the main risk factors for substance use in Tehran. Healthcare providers and policymakers can utilize our results to implement preventive strategies to minimize substance use in Tehran.

Keywords: Addiction; Iran; Opium; Prevalence; Substance use; Tehran.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Practice of substance use in the different age groups
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Comparison of substance use prevalence among both genders and different age groups
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Geographic distribution of substance use in 22 districts of Tehran based on the first three digits of the residential zip codes. Suburban areas, particularly southern districts, are recognized for being prominent routes for drug trade and experiencing elevated levels of drug trafficking. More information about the details of the Tehran population and the distribution of participants from each district were indicated in our protocol [26]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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