Substance abuse: A survey among medical students of tribal area of Chhattisgarh – A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Using various substances by medical students is very common nowadays. Owing to the new curriculum and environment with teenage curiosity in the absence of proper guidance and counseling leads to stress in medical students, which results in substance abuse as a cope-up strategy. Moreover, the same may further lead to many personal and socio-legal issues leading to poor academic performance by the students. Aims and Objectives: The primary objective was to evaluate the various kinds of substances abused by different years of MBBS students. The secondary objective was to find out the reasons behind substance abuse among the students and their attitude toward its future use. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study has been conducted on 199 undergraduate students after taking informed consent from them. A questionnaire in Google Forms has been sent to them after explaining the purpose of the study. Results obtained have been analyzed and presented in counts and percentages. The Institutional Ethics Committee approval has been taken before the commencement of the study. Results: The prevalence of substance abuse among MBBS students was 53.5% with male predominance. The most commonly abused substance was alcohol (43.4%), followed by tobacco products (31.3%). 47.5% of substance abusers want to quit drugs in the future, while the rest may or may not quit using the substance despite knowing its harmful effects. Conclusion: The results of the study may contribute policymakers to look into the problem and take necessary steps regarding the prevention of substance abuse.