Substance Use among Students in a Private Medical College, Southern India-A Cross Sectional Study

Substance abuse and its associated problems are a global concern. A recent WHO estimate shows a burden of worldwide psychoactive substance use of around 2 billion alcohol uses, 1.3 billion smokers and 185 million drug users. The doctors are vulnerable to substance abuse/addiction due their ready accessibility to the substance of abuse.

To study the prevalence, duration, reasons and type of drug use among medical students.

A cross sectional study among 300 randomly selected medical students was carried out in private medical college during August to September 2016. After seeking administrative approval and verbal consent of the participants, questionnaire was prepared, distributed and data were collected from the students (of 1^st year to 5^th year). Questionnaire was designed to elicit information on the use cigarettes, alcohol, illegal purchase of drugs as well as reasons and age at first use.

Among 300 participants 86% were males and 14% were female students. The prevalence of substance abuse among medical students was about 52% and among them 57.85% of them was staying in hostels. 40% and 36% of them started using it as for experimentation and for fun respectively and 17% of them used for stress relief. The present study also reveals that above 65% were well aware of their side effects.

The problem of substance abusers among medical students should gain attention and it's time to evolve on comprehensive intervention approach to promote a healthy and safe life style practices.