Factors associated with tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use among youth living in West Central Mexico

Socioeconomic factors associated with drug consumption in Mexico

BACKGROUND

Illicit drug consumption in Mexico has been growing constantly and has begun to be a public health problem. The aim of this study is to identify the principal characteristics and socioeconomic variables associated with consumption of illegal drugs in Mexico.

METHODS

Using information from the 2016 national addictions survey in Mexico, we develop a logistic regression model to determine the variables associated with drug consumption, sometime in lifetime or recently, in the general population of Mexico.

RESULTS

Analyzing information from 56,877 persons, the prevalence of the use of illicit drugs at least once in lifetime was 15.4% and 3.6% for males and females, respectively. The variables associated with more consumption of illegal drugs was utilization of substances with alcohol (RR 9.3; 95% CI 7.9-10.8) and nicotine products (RR 4.7; 95% CI 4.3-5.1), male gender (RR 2.6; 95% CI 2.4-2.8), and relatives' drug consumption (RR 2.1; 95% CI 1.8-2.4).

CONCLUSIONS

Having more education, being older, and having a partner was associated with lower illicit drug consumption sometime in lifetime; in the case of recent consumption, in addition, having a job or active child-rearing in the house in a positive sense.

THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE USE OF ALCOHOL, MARIJUANA AND COCAINE AND THE SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OF RIBEIRÃO PRETO, BRAZIL

ABSTRACT Objective: to determine the prevalence of use in life and in the last three months of alcohol, marijuana and cocaine among university students from the social and health Sciences areas of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil and to evaluate the association between use in life and in the last three months of alcohol, marijuana and cocaine and the variables gender, area of the course, with whom the student lives, importance of religion, age and year of study. Method: a cross-sectional study, carried out with a convenience sample of 275 students from a public university in Ribeirão Preto-SP. For data collection, two instruments were used, containing sociodemographic, training and psychoactive substances. For the analysis, the following tests were used: Fisher's exact test, Chi-square test of Person and Mann-Whitney test. Results: As for sociodemographic factors, there was a significant association between the gender of the participants among the use of marijuana and cocaine in life (p=0.024 and p=0.005, respectively) and the last three months (p=0.013 and p=0.009, respectively), among the importance of religion and the lifetime use of alcohol, marijuana and cocaine (p <0.001, p <0.001 and p = 0.024, respectively) and the use of only marijuana in the last three months (p <0.001) and among the use of marijuana in the last three months and the year of graduation (p=0.003). Regarding age, the results showed a significant difference only between the groups that reported not to use alcohol in life (p=0.037). Conclusion: the investigated university students presented a prevalence of use in their lifetime and in the last three months of marijuana and cocaine greater among men, but not for alcohol. The importance of religion was negatively associated with the use of investigated drugs. The results can provide important subsidies for the structuring of preventive measures for abuse of psychoactive substances between university students and the need for new investigations that cover the subject.