Prevalence and pattern of substance use among the higher secondary school students of Imphal, Manipur, India

Substance use often begins in adolescence. We did a study to describe substance use and its associated factors among adolescent students in Imphal.

We defined substance use as the use of licit and illicit substance other than when medically indicated. Using a WHO self-administered questionnaire, we collected Information about substance use from 61 randomly selected students of 1 7 government/private higher secondary schools. We calculated the prevalence of substance use according to selected characteristics.

We surveyed 1020 students, 551 of whom reported prior substance use (prevalence of ever use: 54%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 42%-67%). Prevalence of recent and current user was 35% (95% CI 28%-43%) and 22% (95% CI 17%-28%), respectively. Among ever users, tobacco (46%) was used most commonly, followed by alcohol (29%), cannabis (14%) and opiates (12%). On multivariate analysis, substance use was significantly higher among boys (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.6, 95% CI [2.0-3.4]), whose father (AOR 2.0, 95% CI 1.6-2.7) or sibling (AOR 2.1, 95% CI 1.5-3.0) used substance. It was significantly lower among children of Hindu/Jain religion (AOR 0.5, 95% CI 0.4-0.7).

Prevalence of tobacco and alcohol use was high among students. Familial use of substances was associated with the behaviour of adolescents. Friends were the key proximal determinant. We recommend Introducing a substance use prevention policy in schools to educate students about various adverse effects and to impart refusal skills.