Tobacco Use and Substance Abuse in Students of Karaj Universities

Investigation of Addiction Potential and Its Related Health Profile in Medical Students

BACKGROUND

Substance use among medical students is a concern due to its relationship with students' health and the nature of the medical profession. Therefore, this study aimed to assess addiction potential and its relationship with health in medical students.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 medical students who were selected through convenience sampling. Students' demographic information, including age, gender, marital status, place of residence, educational level, and substance abuse in first-degree relatives (FDRs), as well as information obtained from the Duke Health Profile and Iranian Addiction Potential Scale (IAPS), were collected in person or online and analyzed using SPSS software (v. 26).

FINDINGS

The mean age of the participants was 23.27±2.4 years and 57.5% of the participants were female. The results indicated a statistically significant relationship between addiction potential score and gender, family history of substance use, and educational level, but not with age, marital status, or place of residence. Moreover, a significant negative correlation was observed between addiction potential and physical, mental, social, and general health scores.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated that paying special attention to the health of medical students and planning to improve their health indicators can effectively reduce addiction potential.

Geographic distribution and time trends of water-pipe use among Iranian youth and teenage students: A meta-analysis and systematic review

Water-pipe tobacco smoking is harmful to health, yet its rate of prevalence remains uncertain. Recent evidence has shown that the prevalence of water-pipe smoking among students is higher than in the general population. In this study, a systematic review of related literature on water-pipe use was conducted, and for this purpose, 76 articles were examined in the study. In this vein, geographic distribution and time trends of water-pipe consumption in Iran were considered. The results of this study showed that lifetime, last-year, and last-month prevalence of water-pipe smoking use among Iranian students were 28.78 (25.07-32.49), 20.84 (16.01-25.66), and 16.36 (11.86-20.85), respectively. The results also showed a wide variation by the region and sex in Iran. This study has shown the importance of addressing public prevention and alerting programs in schools and universities.

Health-risk behaviors among Iranian university students, 2019: a web-based survey

BACKGROUND

High-risk behaviors are among the most serious threats for the physical and mental health of adolescents and young adults. Our aims in this study were to investigate the subgroups of students based on risky behaviors and to identify the prevalence rate of these subgroups.

METHODS

This cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted from July to August 2019 in Tabriz, Iran. We performed proportional sampling in all nine universities of the city, according to the number of students in each university. Applying an online survey questionnaire, the data were collected from 3649 students and analyzed using Latent Class Analysis.

RESULTS

For total sample, standardized prevalence rates of cigarette smoking, hookah use, alcohol consumption, substance abuse and unsafe sex were 18.5 (Confidence Interval (CI) 95%: 17.3-19.8), 9.1 (CI 95%: 8.2-10.1), 9.2 (CI 95%: 8.3-10.2), 8.3 (CI 95%: 7.4-9.3) and 14.5 (CI 95%: 13.3-15.7), respectively. Three latent classes of risky behaviors were determined among students: a) low risk b) smoking and c) high risk. About 18% of boys and 1.5% of girls were in the high risk class. Cigarette smoking (18.5%, CI 95%: 17.3-19.8) and substance abuse (8.3%, CI 95%: 7.4-9.3) were the most and the least common risky behaviors among the students.

CONCLUSION

In this we-based survey, a considerable number of students, particularly boys (18%), was at high-risk class, stressing the need for preventive interventions for this group of youth. Our findings are beneficial for planning and development of risky-behavior preventive strategies to prevent high-risk behaviors among college students.

Prevalence of Hookah Smoking among University Students in Iran: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

BACKGROUND

The rise in popularity of waterpipe smoking among younger people cause increase its deleterious effects on health in recent years. The aim of this study was to estimate the pooled prevalence of water-pipe smoking in university students in Iran.

METHODS

We performed the literature search from 1946 to January 21, 2019, in several international and national databases such as Medline/PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, Magiran, Iranmedex, and IranPsych. To investigate the between-study heterogeneity we used the chi-squared test and I² index. We used a random-effects model to estimate the pooled prevalence of water-pipe smoking. The potential source of heterogeneity was assessed by subgroup analysis and meta-regression.

RESULTS

According to the eligibility criteria, we included 37 relevant studies in our meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of lifetime water-pipe smoking was 25% (95% CI: 22-29) and in male and female subgroups was 37% (95%CI: 30-45), 17% (95%CI: 15-19) respectively. The pooled prevalence of water-pipe smoking in last year was 21% (95%CI: 16-25) and in last month was 8% (95%CI: 5-11). Results of meta-regression analysis showed that there was not any significant association between suspected variables and the prevalence of water-pipe smoking.

CONCLUSION

The higher prevalence rate of water pipe smoking among university students indicates the emergency need for planning preventive program.

Cigarette smoking patterns in relation to religiosity and familial support among Iranian university students: A Latent Class Analysis

INTRODUCTION

Entering University is an important developmental milestone that might be associated with cigarette smoking. The aim of this study was to identify the subgroups of university students on the basis of cigarette smoking patterns, and to assess the role of familial support and religious beliefs on membership in specific subgroups.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was performed in 2016 using multistage random sampling among students of Bushehr University (n=977). Anonymous, structured questionnaires were distributed to the students in each selected class. Cigarette smoking prevalence was assessed in three time intervals: lifetime, last year, and last month. All of the analyses were performed using PROC LCA in the SAS software.

RESULTS

The lifetime, last-year and last-month prevalence of cigarette smoking was 13.7%, 10.0% and 7.0%, respectively. In this study, the prevalence of passive smoking was relatively high (15.3%) among students. Four latent classes were identified: 1) non-smoker 58.2%, 2) passive smoker 31.3%, 3) moderate smoker 3.4%, and 4) heavy smoker 7.1%. The prevalence of cigarette smoking of close friends was: 73% among passive smokers, 81% for heavy smokers and 63% for moderate smokers. Being male (OR=4.42, 95% CI; 2.90-6.74) and a higher score of religious beliefs (OR=0.97, p<0.001 95% CI; 0.96-0.98) were associated with the heavy smoker class.

CONCLUSIONS

Among students at Bushehr University in Iran, 10.5% were either moderate or heavy smokers in 2016. These results point out the critical importance of designing specific preventive interventional programs for university students. Higher level of religiosity may serve as a preventive factor in engaging in cigarette smoking.

Clustering and Combining Pattern of High-Risk Behaviors among Iranian University Students: A Latent Class Analysis

Background: High-risk behaviors are increasing among young adults worldwide. We aimed to identify university students’ subgroups on the basis of high-risk behaviors and to assess the role of age, living alone, religious beliefs, and parental support in the membership of specific subgroups.

Study design: A cross-sectional study

Methods: The study was conducted in Bushehr (the south of Iran) from November to December 2016. The sample included 977 university students selected through random sampling. The data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Then, latent class analysis was used to classify the students.

Results: Totally, five latent classes were identified as follows: low risk, high risk, somewhat low risk, hookah user, and very high risk. Notably, 7.7% and 2.5% of the students belonged to high risk and very high risk classes, respectively. The results suggested the protective effect of familial support and religiosity on high-risk behaviors.

Conclusions: This study indicated the co-occurrence of high-risk behaviors. The findings can be used to plan and evaluate interventions by considering risk factors and protective factors in universities.

Factors associated with smoking initiation among school-aged adolescents

Objective

To identify factors associated with smoking initiation in adolescent secondary school students.

Method

This is a cross-sectional study conducted in 2014 with 864 adolescents at a secondary school in southern Brazil. Data were collected using an instrument with sociodemographic questions, application of the Fagerström Nicotine Dependence Scale, and Beck Depression Inventory, and analysed using descriptive statistics, Fisher's Exact test, Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney's test, and the Poisson Regression test.

Results

Fifty-four of the adolescents started smoking, of which 35 continued smoking and exhibited high nicotine dependence. Smoking was associated with brown skin (p = 0.020), single-parent household (p = 0.006), a fair family relationship (p = 0.003), and drug users in the family (p = 0.04). A significantly higher prevalence ratio was detected for boys (p = 0.038), higher family income (p> 0.001), living with one family member (p> 0.001), and a fair family relationship (p> 0.001).

Conclusions

We identified factors associated with smoking initiation, revealing the importance of supporting health education strategies to change this reality.