Screening of Substance Abuse Among the General Population in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background Substance abuse refers to the harmful or hazardous use of psychoactive substances. Substance abuse is a pattern of problematic use that causes substantial impairment or distress, such as engaging in risky use or failing to meet important duties. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from 1^st January 2024 to 1^st April 2024, to assess the prevalence of substance abuse and its associated factors among 360 participants of the general population. The validated Arabic version of the Drug Abuse Screening Test-10 (DAST-10) by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to assess the prevalence of substance abuse. Results The DAST-10 scale showed that the majority of participants reported no problems (56%), over one-third reported low-level problems (35%), while only 6% and 3% reported moderate and substantial levels, respectively. The multivariate regression analysis to predict substance abuse among the studied participants showed that smoking and having a close friend with substance abuse positively affect substance abuse, while sharing life aspects with the family is negatively associated with substance abuse. Conclusion Substance abuse was prevalent at low, moderate, and substantial levels in the general population of Saudi Arabia (total 44%). Substance abuse was more prevalent among the male population. Specific risk factors such as smoking and peer influence in the form of having a close friend with substance abuse were significantly contributing to substance abuse (P-value <0.05). These findings align with research indicating that familial factors, such as childhood maltreatment, parental substance abuse, and family socioeconomic status, contribute to increased substance use.