Prevalence and Determinants of Khat (Catha edulis) Chewing among High School Students in Eastern Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

BackgroundUse of psychoactive drugs such as khat leaves (Catha edulis) alter moods and emotional state and lead to adverse effects on the health and social life of users. Ethiopia is a major producer and exporter of khat in east Africa and the majority of the khat comes from the eastern part of the country, however, no studies have been conducted to investigate the habit in this area. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence and predictors of khat chewing among high school students in Harar, eastern Ethiopia.MethodologyThe study was conducted among 1,890 secondary school students in Harar town in April 2010. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were performed to examine the prevalence and predictors of khat chewing.ResultThe overall prevalence of khat chewing among the sample was 24.2% (95% CI 22.2%–26.2%). About 28.5% of females and 71.5% of males had chewed khat. Older age (OR 1.31; 95% CI 1.16–1.49), male gender (OR 2.10; 95% CI 1.50–2.93), Muslim religion (OR 1.88; 95% CI 1.17–3.04), having friends who chewed khat (OR 7.93; 95% CI 5.40–11.64), and availability of someone with a similar habit in the family (OR 1.50; 95% CI 1.07–2.11) were found to be independent predictors of chewing.ConclusionA significant proportion of students chew khat. The use of khat is significantly associated with age, gender, Muslim religion, peer influence and habit of family and other relatives among students. Measures such as educational campaigns need to be instituted to create awareness among school adolescents and their parents in order to reduce the prevalence of the habit and its adverse social and health consequences.

Prevalence of <i>Catha edulis</i> (Khat) Chewing and Its Associated Factors among Ataye Secondary School Students in Northern Shoa, Ethiopia

“…In our study male stu-dents currently chewed khat more than female students (Table 3). Similar differences were reported in a surveys carried out in different parts of Ethiopia and other world (Aklog et al, 2013;Negussie et al, 2014;Derese & Seme, 2014;Tilahun & Ayele, 2014;Mulugeta, 2013;Kebede, 2001;Reda et al, 2012;Gebreslassie, 2013;Abrha, 2013;Otieno & Ofulla, 2009;Alsanosy & Mutwakel, 2013;Hussien, 2009). This significant difference may be due to the cultural acceptance of male practicing unusual things including khat chewing, alcohol and other substances than females in Ethiopia and it is not an exceptional in our study area.…”

“…A study from Eastern Ethiopia (Nigussie et al, 2014) revealed that the prevalence of khat chewing among high school students to be 18.4%. Similarly a survey conducted among high school students in Eastern Ethiopia (Reda et al, 2012) showed that the prevalence was 24.2%. (Kebede, 2002) conducted a research in four colleges found in North West Ethiopia publicized that the life time and current prevalence of khat chewing was 26.7% and 17.5% respectively.…”

“…Single proportion (adjusted formula) was used, taking prevalence 24.2% (Reda et al, 2012), 10% of nonrespondent rate and due to multistage nature of sampling technique 1.5 design effect was used. The marginal error was taken as 5% with 95% confidence level.…”

“…These could be explained as in Kenyan high school the prevalence was 3.2% (Ndetei et al, 2010), 24.2% (95% CI; 22.2% -26.2%) in Eastern Ethiopia high schools (Reda, 2012), 21.4% in Jazan high school (Hussien, 2009), 23.1% in higher education of Jazan region of Saudi Arabia (Reshad, 2013) and 10.9% in Dire Dawa high school (Ethiopia) (Negussie et al, 2014). Moreover, the prevalence increases as we go from high school to college and university students.…”

Prevalence of khat chewing and its effect on academic performance in Sidama zone, Southern Ethiopia

“…Among the top students' expressed reasons for khat use are; to get energized for study, to stay awake or avoid sleep and to increase academic performance 32,33 . Factors increasing the odds of students' khat use include; male gender, having friend chewing khat, having family members chewing khat, Muslim religion, pocket money, living alone during school age, cigarette smoking, financial freedom, parents' educational levels, living in rural area, and others 32,34,35 .…”