Substance abuse among male adolescents in northern India

2016-03-30T01-12-18Z
Source: International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics
Faizur Rahman, V.N. Tripathi.
Background: The rising burden of substance abuse among adolescents is a major public health challenge worldwide. The present study was undertaken to find out the prevalence of substance abuse among adolescents in Kanpur. Methods: This community based, cross-sectional study was conducted in among 539 male adolescents in the age group 10-18 years using simple random sampling. A pre-tested and pre-designed schedule was used to collect the relevant information after taking informed consent. The data was analyzed using SPSS software. Results: Substance abuse was found among 15.02% male adolescents. Smoking was prevalent among 10.95%, alcohol was used by 3.34% and other drugs were used by 0.75% male adolescents. There was an increase in prevalence of substance abuse with the increase in age. Conclusions: It is important to strengthen health education on substance abuse among the adolescents age group through mass media and school health programs.


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