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Knowledge, attitude, and practice of Iranian adolescent girls towards 3-4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine
Zahra Rahnavard1, Sana Eybpoosh, Shahin Akhondzadeh
1Department of Community Health Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, PO Box 6459, East Nosrat Street, Tohid Square, Tehran, Iran. Zahra.rahnavard@gmail.com
Objective:
To investigate knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of Iranian adolescent girls towards 3-4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA [Ecstasy]).
Methods:
A cross-sectional design study was conducted on female adolescents in Tehran high schools. The study took place in Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran in October to December 2008. A randomized cluster sample of adolescent girls from 14-18 years old, and enrolled in 57 public high schools of Tehran were selected. A written informed consent was obtained from all study participants. In order to assess the participants' demographic characteristics, and KAP towards Ecstasy, a 61-item, researcher-made, valid, and reliable questionnaire was completed anonymously by all participants at schools. The questionnaire included 4 main domains assessing adolescents': 1. Demographic characteristics (14 items), 2. Knowledge (10 items) 3. Attitude (24 items), and 4. Practice (13 items) toward Ecstasy. Results were considered significant at p ≤ 05.
Results:
A total of 4116 adolescents participated in the study. A high proportion of respondents had little knowledge (70%), positive attitude (80%), and moderate practice (60.4%) towards Ecstasy. In addition, findings revealed a significant relationship between knowledge-attitude and attitude-practice with respect to Ecstasy use (Spearman correlation coefficient, rs=0.760, p=0.003).
Conclusion:
Considering adolescents' improper KAP toward Ecstasy, it is obvious that there is a need for appropriate educational interventions to inform adolescent girls regarding the harmful effects of Ecstasy.
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