Experimentation with psychoactive substances by public school students

• Published in: Revista de saúde pública 2017-01, Vol.51, p.82
• Main Authors: Andrade, Maria Eliane de, Santos, Igor Henrique Farias, Souza, Antônio Araújo Menezes de, Silva, Aliane Caroline Santos, Leite, Tatiane Dos Santos, Oliveira, Cristiane Costa da Cunha, Albuquerque, Júnior, Ricardo Luiz Cavalcanti de
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior; Adult; Age Distribution; Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology; Brazil - epidemiology; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Health Policy & Services; Humans; Male; Original; Prevalence; Psychotropic Drugs; Religion; Risk Factors; Smoking - epidemiology; Students - statistics & numerical data; Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0034-8910; 1518-8787; 1518-8787
• DOI: 10.11606/S1518-8787.2017051006929

To analyze the prevalence of exposure to psychoactive substances in public students of basic education and its association with sociodemographic characteristics. This is a cross-sectional survey conducted from March to September 2015, involving 1,009 students of the basic and high school education in 20 public schools in the municipality of Aracaju, State of Sergipe, Brazil. The data have been compiled using questionnaires previously applied in national studies of the Brazilian Center for Psychotropic Drugs. The variables have been dichotomized for later logistic regression using the Chi-square test to analyze associations between experimentation with psychoactive substances and other sociodemographic variables; odds ratio and confidence intervals have also been calculated. The level of significance adopted was 5%. We have identified that 69.6% of the students have experimented alcohol and 12.4% cigarettes. Age (≥ 15 years) has shown a significant association with experimentation with alcohol (p < 0.001) and cigarettes (p = 0.02), acting as risk factor in both cases (OR = 2.34 and 1, 78, respectively), but it acted as a protective factor for the use of inhalants (p = 0.03 and OR = 0.58) and weight loss medication (p = 0.006 and OR = 0.44). Religious practice had a significant association with experimentation with alcohol (p = 0.01), functioning as a protective factor (OR = 0.56). We have concluded that the psychoactive substance most experienced by students was alcohol, followed by cigarettes, and chance for experimentation increases after the age of 15. Religious practice, in turn, acts as a protective factor for experimentation with alcohol. Analisar a prevalência de exposição a substâncias psicoativas em estudantes do ensino básico de escolas públicas e sua associação com características sociodemográficas. Trata-se de um inquérito transversal realizado de março a setembro de 2015, envolvendo 1.009 alunos do ensino fundamental e médio em 20 escolas públicas de Aracaju, São Cristóvão e Nossa Senhora do Socorro. Os dados foram compilados por meio de questionários aplicados anteriormente em estudos nacionais do Centro Brasileiro de Drogas Psicotrópicas. As variáveis foram dicotomizadas para posterior regressão logística com aplicação do teste Qui-quadrado para analisar associações entre a experimentação de substâncias psicoativas e outras variáveis sociodemográficas, e calculada a razão de chances e seus intervalos de confiança. O nível de significância ado