Prevalence of lifetime substances use among students in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

BackgroundThe use of substances is a growing concern in Ethiopia, and their impacts on younger generation have been a concern of different professionals. Even though students are at high-risk of substance abuse, there is lack of comprehensive evidence for policy decision on substance use among students. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to estimate the prevalence of common substances among students in Ethiopia.MethodA comprehensive literature searches were done from biomedical databases: PubMed/Medline, African Journal Online, HINARI, Science Direct, and Google Scholar for article published until Dcember 31, 2017, and Addis Ababa Uiversity’s electronic library search of unpublished thesis and dissertations. Two authors autonomously selected studies, extracted data, and evaluated quality of studies. The prevalence of lifetime substances use was estimated using the random effects model. Q and I2 statistics were computed to measure the extents of heterogeneity.ResultsA total 676 study articles were identified from electronic databases, and 28 of them were included in meta-analysis. The analysis revealed that the lifetime prevalence of any substance use was 52.5% (95% CI 42.4–62.4%), khat 24.7% (95% CI 21.8–27.7%), alcohol 46.2% (95% CI 40.3–52.2%), and smoking cigarette 14.7% (95% CI 11.3–18.5%). Significant heterogeneity was observed but there was no significant publication bias. The lifetime prevalence of khat, alcohol, and cigarette smoking among high school vs university students was 22.5% (95% CI 15.2–30.7%) vs 25.1% (95% CI 21.9–28.5%), 41.4% (95% CI 22.1–62.1%) vs 47.8% (95% CI 39.9–55.7%), and 21.5% (95% CI 12.6–32.1%) vs 12.9% (95% CI 10.1–16.0%), respectively.ConclusionThis meta-analysis highlighted the extent of lifetime prevalence of any substance, khat, alcohol, and cigarettes smoking among students in Ethiopia. Significant percent of high school students have exposed to substances. Policy makers should devise and implement strictly binding regulation to curb widespread of substances around educational institution premises at national level. Priority should be given to intervention strategies that help delay first use of substance to prevent problems later in life. Besides, the problem warrants regular national-level educational institutions based studies focusing on the magnitude, trajectory, and consequences of substance use among students.Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42018082635

Prevalence of Substance Use in University Students, Ethiopia

“…The current alcohol use prevalence in this study (22.9%) is higher than the result from Debre Berhan University (17%) but lower from Axum University (32.8%). 12,15,21,47,55 A slightly lower odds of lifetime alcohol use among female students observed in the current study (…”

“…The current alcohol use prevalence in this study (22.9%) is higher than the result from Debre Berhan University (17%) but lower from Axum University (32.8%). 12 , 15 , 21 , 47 , 55 …”

Self-reported history and saliva analyses of recreational drug use among students in a public university in Mombasa, Kenya

“…Khat a substance that is structurally related to amphetamine was commonly consumed by students in the present study. Findings indicating high prevalence of khat use are similar to a systematic review that reported khat as one of the most consumed substances among university students in Ethiopia (56). Further, a meta-analysis indicated that the pooled prevalence of current khat use among university students was highest in Saudi Arabia (18.9%) followed by Ethiopia 13.6% and 13 % in Yemen (57).…”

Current Substances Use Among Students in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of 20-years Evidence

“…Since 1980s, studies conducted across different parts of Ethiopia showed that the epidemiology of the use of the various substances; either as a single or concurrent use of any substance [27][28][29]. These studies predominantly focused on the lifetime use of substance among students and they tends to overestimate the prevalence and this was observed in our previous meta-analysis [30]. So far one meta-analyis focused on single substance but did not spacify whether the outcome was current or lifetime [31], and the other reported pooled prevalence of current khat chewing in serveral [32].…”