Drug use and its associated factors among in-school adolescents in Harari region of eastern Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to determine the magnitude of current drug use and its associated factors among randomly selected 3227 in-school adolescents in eastern Ethiopia using a multistage sampling technique. Data were collected using questionnaires adapted from the Global School-Based Health Survey. The magnitude of current drug use among in-school adolescents was 5.67% (95% CI: 4.92–6.52). Rural residence (AOR = 2.25, 95% CI: 1.43; 3.54), social media use (AOR = 2.53, 95% CI: 1.75; 3.65), being bullied by others at school (AOR = 8.34, 95% CI: 5.67; 12.56), having a father who used drugs (AOR = 2.20, 95% CI: 1.38; 3.39), and having low self-esteem (AOR = 5.83, 95% CI: 2.77; 12.27) were significantly associated with increased odds of current drug use. The magnitude of current drug use is high. The findings highlight that interventions should focus on rural dwellers, social media users, bully victims, adolescents whose fathers use drugs, and adolescents with low self-esteem.

KEYWORDS:

• Current drug use
• associated factors
• adolescents
• Ethiopia

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Haramaya University for funding this study. We would also like to thank the Harari Regional State Education Bureau, which involved school directors and teachers, participants, and data collectors, for meticulously facilitating and conducting this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

All authors made significant contributions to the work reported, whether in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis, and interpretation, or in all these areas. All took part in drafting, revising, or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Data availability statement

All the data used in this study are included in this article. Additional data are available from the corresponding authors upon request.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Haramaya University Scientific Research Grant number (HURG-2020-02-01-92) after defending the study proposal. The funder has no role in the design of the study; collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; or in writing the manuscript.