Assessment of frequency, risk category and intervention needs in psychoactive drug users by using WHOASSIST Questionnaire among medical students in Karachi

To determine the frequency of use of various psychoactive drugs among medical students in an urban setting, and to assess the risk category and intervention needs.

The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from January to June 2018 at four medical education institutions of Karachi; 2 each randomly selected from registered public and private sectors. From the clinical classes of each institution, fourth year was randomly chosen by lottery method. Data was collected using the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test version 3.0. Data was analysed using SPSS 20.

Of the 445 respondents, 270(60.7%) were male and 175(39.3%) were females. The overall mean age was 21.3±1.7 years (range: 17-27 years). Of the total, 273(61.3%) had never used any psychoactive substance, 97(21.8%) had used at least one, 34(7.6%) at least two, 23(5.2%) three, while 18(4%) had tried four or more psychoactive drugs in their lifetime. The most commonly used drug was tobacco, reportedly used by 117(26.3%) respondents, and, among them, 40(34%) were in low risk/no intervention category, 71(60.6%) in moderate risk/brief intervention category and 6(5.1%) in high risk/intensive treatment category. The use of psychoactive drug was significantly more in male compared to female students(p<0.05).

Tobacco was the most commonly used psychoactive drug among medical students though the use of cocaine, cannabis, alcohol, amphetamine, inhalants and sedatives was also significant. Psychoactive drug use was more common in males compared to females.