Substance use and Contributing Factors Among Ambo University Students Ethiopia; 2016

Background:Students of higher institutions are at higher risk of substance use. Substance use is one of the serious socio-economic and public health problems. Even though substance use occurs in all segments of the societies, it is highly spreading among students of higher education especially in university students. Hence this study aimed to assess the prevalence and contributing factors of substance use among Ambo University regular students. Methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study design was employed from February to May 2016 among 197 study subjects. The study participants were recruited by using stratified sampling technique. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires. The data was coded, cleaned entered and analyzed by using SPSS version 20. Crude and adjusted odds ratios using logistic regression analysis were employed to explore associations between substance use and associated factors. Result: the study showed that 190(96.4%) of the respondents have knowledge about different forms of substance. Their main source of information were mass media (56%) followed by peer (22.5%). The prevalence of substance use among the study participants were 72.6%. Of which majority of substance user were male 112(78.3%) were as the female account for only 31(21.7%). The commonly used substance were alcohol 80(55.9%),khat 73(51%) and cigarette smoking 37(25.9%). Sex (being male)(AOR=0.23,95% CI: 0.1-0.54), family history of substance use (AOR=0.06,95% CI:0.015-0.21), peer pressure (AOR=3.9,95% CI:1.53-10), frustration and stress at dorm(AOR=2.2,95%CI:1.02-4.7), availability of substance (AOR=0.34,95%CI:0.14-0.83) and affordability (AOR=0.33,95%CI:0.12-0.91) were significantly associated with substance use.Conclusion - the prevalence of substance use was high among the study participants; Therefore, an integrated effort needed to follow and create awareness for those students who have high risk of expose to substance use with special focus on the socio-economic, academic and health problems associated with substance use. Entertaining and recreational facilities should be available within the university. Keywords: Substance use, contributing factors, Ambo, Ethiopia Introductio