Alcohol and drug problems and sexual and physical abuse at three urban high schools in Mthatha

BackgroundAlcohol is the most important substance of abuse in South Africa. There are, however, reports of an increase in the use of other drugs among adolescents. The aim of this study was to assess the use of alcohol and other drugs of abuse and their association with physical or sexual abuse in three urban high schools in Mthatha.MethodThe Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), embedded in a broader questionnaire, was used as a screening tool to assess primary and secondary objectives among the student population (N = 1 424) attending school on a given day at three urban high schools in Mthatha (a cut-off point of 8 was selected).ResultsOf the 266 (18.6%) students who tested AUDIT positive, 63 (4.42%) were female and 203 (14.26%) were male (