Research Article
Descriptive national survey of substance use in Nigeria
Taiwo Abosede Adamson1, Adegboyega Oyekanmi. Ogunlesi1, O lufemi Morakinyo2, Akinwande Owuladewa Akinhanmi1, Peter Olutunde Onifade1*, Olayiwola Erinosho3, Alfred A Adewuyi4, David Adekunle Fasiku5, Timothy Olaoluwa Adebowale1, Adegboyega Ogunwale1,Edward Babatunde Somoye1 and O luniyi Olaniyan11Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, Nigeria
2Mental Health and Psychiatry, Department of Mental Health,University of Benin / UBTH, Benin City, Nigeria
3Health Sociology, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Nigeria
4Demography and Social Statistics, Joseph Ayo Babalola University,Ikeji-Arakeji, via Ilesa, Nigeria
5National Population Commission, Abuja, Nigeria
- Corresponding Author:
- Dr. Peter Olutunde Onifade
MB; BS, FMC Psych, Neuropsychiatric Hospital
Aro, Abeokuta, Nigeria
Tel: +234 803 506 1082
E-mail: oniffpo@yahoo.com
Received date: June 01, 2015 Accepted date: July 09, 2015 Published date: July 17, 2015
Citation: Adamson TA, Ogunlesi AO, Morakinyo O, Akinhanmi AO, Onifade PO, et al. (2015) Descriptive National Survey of Substance Use in Nigeria. J Addict Res Ther 6:234. doi:10.4172/2155-6105.1000234
Copyright: © 2015 Adamson TA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Objectives: Epidemiological data on alcohol and drug use in Nigeria were documented since the 1940’s. These were, however, limited to specific population groups, had small sample sizes or did not adequately take into consideration the diverse geographical spread of the people, the ethnic diversity and the rural-urban variations. Therefore, this study aimed to survey the prevalence rates of drug use across all the geopolitical zones, including the sociocultural and the urban-rural divides, in Nigeria.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey of drug use was conducted in 2009 among Nigeria population aged 15-64 years and spread across the 6 geopolitical zones of the country. Adapted version of the World Health Organization Model Student Questionnaire was used for data collection. Analysis was descriptive.
Results: The response rate of 88.9% yielded 10,609 records for analysis. The majority of the respondents were males (52%), aged 25-34 years (29.6%), married (65.2%) and residing in the rural localities (53.0%). The drug with the highest prevalence rate of use was alcohol, (39%) lifetime, (30.3%) 12-month and (24.5%) 30 day. Cannabis was the most commonly used illicit drug with a lifetime use of 6.6%, 12-month of 2.6%, and 30 day of 1.8%. The prevalence rates of inhalants use were 6.8% lifetime, 3.9% 12-month and 3.2% 30-day. The geopolitical zones with the highest prevalence use of inhalants were the South-East and the North-Central zones. Tranquilizer use was highest in the South-West. Higher rates of drug use were generally associated more with the male gender and the urban localities.
Conclusion: The pattern of drug use in Nigeria varies across the geopolitical zones; therefore, the approaches and foci of drug intervention measures will also have to vary across this divide with considerations for the socio-cultural norms.