Abstract

Background: Psychoactive substance use among undergraduate students is a major public health problem globally and over 29 million people worldwide suffer from drug use disorders. Methodology: This study was carried out in February 2017 and the study design was an institution based descriptive cross-sectional type. The study population comprised undergraduate students in selected tertiary institutions of the state. A multistage sampling technique was used in the selection of study subjects. Data was collected using a pretested, semi-structured and self-administered questionnaire and analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 20. The level of statistical significance was set at p-value of ≤ 0.05. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 22.2 ± 3.8 years. The prevalence of the life time and current use of stimulants were 45.3% and 29.1% respectively and tobacco was the commonest stimulant used both in the past (50.3%) and currently (48.0%). Peer group influence was the commonest reason for initiating use of psychoactive substances. Factors significantly associated with current use of stimulants among the students were; gender (p<0.0001), level of study (p=0.012), accommodation statues (p<0.0001) and status of parents union (p=0.007). Conclusion: This study showed a high prevalence of psychoactive substance use among the respondents thus appropriate preventive measures should be adopted to minimise this menace.

Keywords: Psychoactive substance abuse; Students; Tertiary institutions; Imo state; Nigeria