Prevalence and factors associated with psychoactive substance use among undergraduate students of Makerere University: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Being a worldwide health concern among the youths, substance use exposes youths to social, economic, and health problems. Knowledge of the prevalence and predisposing factors to psychoactive substance use among University students is therefore pivotal in designing and implementing periodic interventions in the University system. This study assessed the prevalence and predisposing factors to psychoactive substance use among undergraduate students in Makerere University. Objectives: The major objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with use of psychoactive substances among undergraduate students of Makerere University. Methods: A cross sectional study design was used. The stratified random sampling method was used to select students that participated in the study. Prevalence of psychoactive substance use, and predisposing factors was assessed using a self-administered questionnaire based on the WHO Model Students’ Substance Use Core Questionnaire. Data was analysed using IBM SPSS software version 26 and presented to Department of Pharmacy. Bivariate and multivariate analysis were done to find out factors that are significantly associated with psychoactive substance use. Results: More than half of the participants were male (65.2%), mean age of the participants was 23.4 (SD =2.5). Majority (19.1%) of the participants were from College of Health Sciences (CHS). Over half (72.7%) of the students had ever used one or more psychoactive substances in their lifetime. At Bivariate analysis, college and year of study were significantly associated with use of psychoactive substances among the students. At Multivariate, no factor was significantly associated with use of psychoactive substances among the students. Conclusions: There was high prevalence of psychoactive substance use among undergraduate students of Makerere University.