Sociodemographic characteristics of students
A total of 483 students were participated, which was a response rate of 94%. The median age of the students was 20 years with an Interquartile range of 3, (Q1 = 18, Q3 = 21 years). Among the socio-demographic variables, the nearly equal proportion was observed in terms of sex (49.7% male and 50.3% female). The majority, 346 (71.6%) students were orthodox in religion and the remaining 137 (28.4%), and 20 (4.1%) were Muslim and protestant respectively. The higher proportion, 396 (60.5%) of students were from the Amhara region and the remaining were from Tigray, 87 (18%) and 58 (12%) Oromia region. Almost half of the students, 227(47%) were level-I in academics. The remaining 71(14.7%), 127(26.3%), and 58(12%) of students were Level, II, III, IV in academic level respectively. Almost, a similar proportion of students have lived alone (205 (42.4%)), and with family (194(40.2%)). Others, 84(17.4%) were lived with peers. Almost sixty-nine percent of students, 331(68.5%) earn average monthly pocket money of > 200 ETB (Ethiopian Birr) and the left earn < 200 ETB. The highest proportion of students, 461 (95.4%) were from an urban area and 22(4.6%) from a rural area.
Family-related factors
Almost half, 277 (57.4%), and 251 (52%) of student's mother and father were not attended modern education respectively. Sixty percent of student's parents were lived in an urban area, and 212 (44%) was a farmer in occupation. Nearly eighty percent of students’ parents were married and nearly forty percent, 208 (43.1%) student's parent were lived for 1–5 years in the Ataye town (Table 1).
Table 1
Family-related factors of substance use among Ataye TVET students, north Shoa zone, Ethiopia, 2019.
Variables | Lifetime use | N (%) |
Yes (%) | No (%) |
Mother’s educational level | No education | 75(15.6) | 202(41.8) | 277(57.4) |
Grade 1–12 | 42(8.6) | 71(14.8) | 113(23.4) |
College | 40(8.2) | 53(11) | 93(19.2) |
Father’s educational level | No education | 65(13.5) | 186(38.5) | 251(52) |
Grade 1–12 | 39(8.1) | 68(14) | 107(22.1) |
college | 53(11) | 72(14.9) | 125(25.9) |
Family residency | Rural | 70(14.5) | 123(25.5) | 193(40) |
Urban | 87(18) | 203(42) | 290(60) |
parents job | Government employee | 47(9.7) | 122(25.3) | 169(35) |
Farmer | 63(13) | 149(31) | 212(44) |
Merchant | 47(9.7) | 55(11.4) | 102(21.1) |
Family monthly income (ETB) | < 1000 | 21(4.4) | 87(18) | 108(22.4) |
1001–1500 | 26(5.4) | 90(18.6) | 116(24) |
1501–2000 | 17(3.5) | 60(12.5) | 77(16) |
> 2000 | 93(19.3) | 89(18.4) | 182(37.7) |
Parent marital status | Married | 88(18.2) | 208(43.1) | 296(61.3) |
Widowed/widower | 11(2.3) | 19(3.9) | 30(6.2) |
Divorced | 58(12) | 19(3.9) | 77(15.9) |
Living years in the town | 1–5 | 70(14.5) | 138(28.6) | 208 (43.1) |
6–10 | 19(3.9) | 77(16) | 96(19.9) |
11–15 | 7(1.5) | 33(6.8) | 40(8.3) |
16–20 | 29(6) | 63(13) | 92(19) |
> 20 | 32(6.6) | 15(3.1) | 47(9.7) |
The family member substance user | Yes | 72(14.9) | 20(4.1) | 92(19) |
No | 85(17.6) | 306(63.4) | 391(81) |
Environmental factors
Environmental factors were assessed by using a pretested checklist. Among the total students, 179 (37%) were reported substances are easily available in their hometown. Students also reported other driving environmental factors for their lifetime substance use. Half of lifetime substance users reported that the reason for their substance use was due to a lack of recreational area in the town. The minimum of students, 63 (13%) were started substance use due to peer influence. Furthermore, students reported other driving environmental factors for their lifetime substance use (Fig. 1).
Prevalence of last month substance use and its correlates
The prevalence of last month's substance use was 21.9% (95% CI = 18.2, 25.5). Among last month's substance users, the same proportions (21.9%) chewed Khat; followed by alcohol drinking, (16.6%) and cigarette smoking, (15.3%). Additionally, 1.2% and 3.3% of students used Cannabis and cocaine respectively.
Alcohol, Khat and Cigarette use in the last month and its variation across study subjects’ characteristics were compared by using chi-square with its p-value. The result of this study showed that being in different age groups had contribution for prevalence of last month licit substance use. Being from urban and rural in residency were statistically insignificant for all the three listed drugs (alcohol, Khat, and Cigarette). This means a students in these subcategories were equally practiced substances used in the last month. Living alone and living with others had a contribution to the variation of last month's prevalence of alcohol drinking (X2 = 7.8, p-value = 0.02) and Khat chewing (X2 = 16, p-value = 0.00); but not for cigarette smoking (X2 = 3.3, p-value = 0.2). Other students’ characteristics were statistically significant correlates with last month's substance use. This indicated that students with different predictor variables were not equally practiced drugs in the last month (Table 2).
Table 2
Last month licit drugs use and its correlation with students and family characteristics among Ataye TVET college students, Ethiopia, 2019.
Variables | Alcohol use | Khat use | Cigarette use |
Yes | No | X2 (P-value) | Yes | No | X2 (P-value) | Yes | No | X2 (P-value) |
Age | < 18 years | 3 | 41 | 18.8(0.00)** | 1 | 43 | 38.6(0.00)** | 1 | 43 | 24.6(0.00)** |
18-19.9 years | 21 | 170 | 30 | 161 | 15 | 176 |
20–21 years | 43 | 120 | 61 | 102 | 38 | 126 |
> 21 years | 13 | 72 | 14 | 71 | 76 | 9 |
Sex | Male | 1 | 18 | 69.7(0.00)** | 80 | 160 | 36.1(0.00)** | 49 | 191 | 22.9(0.00)** |
Female | 62 | 178 | 26 | 217 | 14 | 229 |
Residency | Urban | 76 | 385 | 0.04(0.8) | 102 | 359 | 0.2(0.7) | 60 | 401 | 0.07(0.9) |
Rural | 4 | 18 | 4 | 18 | 3 | 19 |
How long live in the town | 1–5 years | 33 | 175 | 14.6(0.006)* | 43 | 165 | 28.0(0.00)** | 24 | 184 | 15.5(0.004)* |
6–10 years | 10 | 86 | 15 | 81 | 7 | 89 |
11–15 years | 4 | 36 | 5 | 35 | 4 | 36 |
16–20 years | 17 | 75 | 19 | 73 | 14 | 78 |
> 20 years | 16 | 31 | 24 | 23 | 14 | 33 |
Academic level | level one | 16 | 211 | 40.2(0.00)** | 16 | 211 | 59.6(0.00)** | 8 | 219 | 43.0(0.00)** |
level two | 13 | 58 | 29 | 42 | 17 | 54 |
level three | 28 | 99 | 38 | 89 | 20 | 107 |
level four | 23 | 35 | 23 | 35 | 18 | 40 |
Currently living | Alone | 38 | 167 | 7.8(0.02)* | 52 | 153 | 16(0.00)** | 30 | 175 | 3.3(0.2) |
with family | 22 | 172 | 26 | 168 | 19 | 175 |
with peers | 20 | 64 | 28 | 56 | 14 | 70 |
Family income (ETB) | < 1000 | 8 | 100 | 39.2(0.00)** | 8 | 100 | 52.0(0.00)** | 5 | 103 | 38.8(0.00)** |
1001–1500 | 15 | 101 | 14 | 102 | 8 | 108 |
1501–2000 | 3 | 74 | 13 | 64 | 4 | 73 |
> 2000 | 54 | 128 | 71 | 111 | 46 | 136 |
Key: * p-value < 0.05, ** p-value = 0.00, ETB = Ethiopian birr, X2 = chi-square |
Cannabis and cocaine are illegal drugs in Ethiopia. Age difference had no variation for last month's use of cannabis and cocaine (X2 = 2.6 vs. 0.24, p-value = 0.11 vs. 0.6 respectively). All students with their different characteristics were equally practiced cannabis in the last month (p values were insignificant). Students’ residence, academic level, currently living status, and family monthly income were not statistically significant in association with last month's cocaine use. This showed students in these subcategories were equally practiced cocaine use in the last month (Table 3).
Table 3
Last month illicit drugs use and its correlation with students and family characteristics among Ataye TVET college students, Ethiopia, 2019.
Variables | Cannabis use | Cocaine use |
Yes | No | X2 (P-value) | Yes | No | X2 (P-value) |
Age (quartile) | < 18 year | 0 | 44 | 2.7(0.44) | 0 | 44 | 6.7(0.08) |
18-19.9 years | 1 | 190 | 4 | 187 |
20–21 years | 3 | 160 | 10 | 153 |
> 21 years | 2 | 83 | 2 | 83 |
Sex | Male | 4 | 236 | 0.7(0.4) | 15 | 225 | 12.9(0.00)* |
| Female | 2 | 241 | 1 | 242 |
Residence | Urban | 6 | 455 | 0.3(0.6) | 15 | 446 | 0.12(0.74) |
Rural | 0 | 22 | 1 | 21 |
How long live in the town | 1–5 years | 2 | 206 | 2.7(0.6) | 3 | 205 | 10.6(0.03)* |
6–10 years | 2 | 94 | 3 | 93 |
11–15 years | 1 | 39 | 1 | 39 |
16–20 years | 0 | 92 | 4 | 88 |
> 20 years | 1 | 46 | 5 | 42 |
Academic level | level one | 2 | 225 | 2.8(0.4) | 3 | 224 | 12.6(0.06) |
level two | 1 | 70 | 6 | 65 |
level three | 1 | 126 | 7 | 120 |
level four | 2 | 56 | 0 | 58 |
Currently living | Alone | 4 | 201 | 2.0(0.4) | 12 | 193 | 9.0 (0.01)* |
with family | 2 | 192 | 1 | 193 |
with peers | 0 | 84 | 3 | 81 |
Family income | < 1000 | 1 | 107 | 2.6(0.5) | 1 | 107 | 4.7(0.2) |
1001_1500 | 1 | 115 | 3 | 113 |
1501_2000 | 0 | 77 | 5 | 72 |
> 2000 | 4 | 178 | 7 | 175 |
Key: * p-value < 0.05, ** p-value = 0.00, X2 = chi-square |
Prevalence of Lifetime substance use and its correlates
The lifetime prevalence of any substance use was 32.5% (95% CI: 28.2, 36.5). Among lifetime users, the majority (25.5%) were chewed Khat; followed by alcohol drinking (19.5%). The prevalence of lifetime use of cannabis and cocaine was 2.5% and 7.2% respectively.
Students in different age group did not equally experience substance use except cannabis in a lifetime. Being from urban and rural area had not contribution for both lifetime and last moth substance use. But, other predictor variables were statistically significant with the association of lifetime alcohol, Khat, and Cigarette use. This implied that students in different categories of the variables were not equally practiced the use of the listed substances in a lifetime (Table 4).
Table 4
Lifetime licit drugs use and its correlation with students and family characteristics among Ataye TVET college students, Ethiopia, 2019.
Variables | Alcohol use | Khat use | Cigarette use |
Yes | No | X2 (P-value) | Yes | No | X2 (P-value) | Yes | No | X2 (P-value) |
Age (quartile) | < 18 years | 3 | 41 | 15.3(0.00)** | 2 | 42 | 36.4(0.00)** | 2 | 42 | 24.4(0.00)** |
18-19.9 years | 27 | 164 | 36 | 155 | 19 | 172 |
20–21 years | 45 | 118 | 67 | 96 | 43 | 120 |
> 21 years | 19 | 66 | 18 | 67 | 10 | 75 |
Sex | Male | 74 | 166 | 39.4(0.00)** | 92 | 148 | 41.6(0.00)** | 56 | 184 | 23.6(0.00)** |
Female | 20 | 223 | 31 | 212 | 18 | 225 |
Residency | Urban | 90 | 371 | 0.02(0.9) | 119 | 342 | 0.6(0.4) | 71 | 390 | 0.05(0.8) |
Rural | 4 | 18 | 4 | 18 | 3 | 19 |
How long live in the town | 1–5 years | 41 | 167 | 18.8(0.01)* | 50 | 158 | 41.2(0.00)** | 29 | 179 | 18(0.01)* |
6–10 years | 12 | 84 | 15 | 81 | 7 | 89 |
11–15 years | 4 | 36 | 5 | 35 | 4 | 36 |
16–20 years | 18 | 74 | 24 | 68 | 19 | 73 |
> 20 years | 19 | 28 | 29 | 18 | 15 | 32 |
Academic level | level one | 23 | 204 | 37.9(0.00)** | 22 | 205 | 59.6(0.00)** | 11 | 216 | 44.7(0.00)** |
level two | 17 | 54 | 33 | 38 | 21 | 50 |
level three | 28 | 99 | 44 | 83 | 23 | 104 |
level four | 26 | 32 | 24 | 34 | 19 | 39 |
Currently living | Alone | 43 | 162 | 8.6(0.01)* | 58 | 147 | 15.2(0.00)** | 33 | 172 | 5.9 (0.05)* |
with family | 27 | 167 | 33 | 161 | 22 | 172 |
with peers | 24 | 60 | 32 | 52 | 19 | 65 |
Family income | < 1000 ETB | 8 | 100 | 35.9(0.00)** | 8 | 100 | 56.8(0.00)** | 5 | 103 | 38.3(0.00)** |
1001_1500 ETB | 17 | 99 | 21 | 95 | 13 | 103 |
1501_2000 ETB | 9 | 68 | 14 | 63 | 5 | 72 |
> 2000 ETB | 60 | 122 | 80 | 102 | 51 | 131 |
Key: * p-value < 0.05, ** p-value = 0.00, X2 = chi-square |
Lifetime cannabis use variation was observed among students' differences in living with and family monthly income. For lifetime cocaine use, variation was observed in sex, academic level, and living with differences (Table 5).
Table 5
Lifetime illicit drugs use and its correlation with students and family characteristics among Ataye TVET college students, Ethiopia, 2019.
Variables | Cannabis use | Cocaine use |
Yes | No | X2 (P-value) | Yes | No | X2 (P-value) |
Age | < 18 years | 2 | 42 | 6(0.11) | 1 | 43 | 7.8(0.05)* |
18.19.9 years | 1 | 190 | 11 | 180 |
20–21 years | 7 | 156 | 19 | 144 |
> 21 years | 2 | 83 | 4 | 81 |
Sex | Male | 8 | 232 | 1.4(0.2) | 31 | 209 | 22.8(0.00)** |
| Female | 4 | 239 | 4 | 239 |
Residence | Urban | 32 | 429 | 1.4(0.24) | 12 | 449 | 0.6(0.44) |
Rural | 3 | 19 | 0 | 22 |
How long live in the town | 1–5 years | 2 | 206 | 6.3(0.2) | 16 | 192 | 6.1(0.2) |
6–10 years | 2 | 94 | 6 | 90 |
11–15 years | 2 | 38 | 1 | 39 |
16–20 years | 3 | 89 | 5 | 87 |
> 20 years | 3 | 44 | 7 | 40 |
Academic level | level one | 4 | 223 | 7.6(0.06) | 4 | 223 | 22.5(0.00)** |
level two | 3 | 68 | 12 | 59 |
level three | 1 | 126 | 13 | 114 |
level four | 4 | 54 | 6 | 52 |
Currently living | Alone | 9 | 196 | 5.9(0.05)* | 17 | 188 | 8.4(0.02)* |
with family | 3 | 191 | 7 | 187 |
with peers | 0 | 84 | 11 | 73 |
Family income | < 1000 | 1 | 107 | 7.9(0.05)* | 2 | 106 | 6.7(0.08) |
1000–1500 | 2 | 114 | 9 | 107 |
1501–2000 | 0 | 77 | 6 | 71 |
> 2000 | 9 | 173 | 18 | 164 |
Key: * p-value < 0.05, ** p-value = 0.00, X2 = chi-square |
Associated factors of lifetime substance use
There were a total of twenty-one variables considered to be investigated for their association with lifetime substance use. Among them, only nine predictor variables were significant during bivariate analysis with a cut point of p-value < 0.20. These variables were exported to multivariable binary logistic regression. During multivariate analysis, six predictor variables were became significantly associated with lifetime substance use (P-value < 0.05).
Among sociodemographic variables of the students, being male had a statistically significant association with lifetime substance use [AOR = 2.2 (95% CI: 1.23, 3.84]. Males were two times more likely to use a substance in a lifetime (after joining college) as compared with females. Living more than 20 years and above in the town (Ataye) was almost four times more likely to use substance at least once in a lifetime as compared with who lived 1–5 years, [AOR = 3.45, 95%CI: 1.18, 10.1]. Students from divorced parents were four times more likely to practice substance use in a lifetime as compared with married parents, [AOR = 4.1, 95%CI:1.78, 9.30]. Having a substance user family member was also a predictor of lifetime substance use. The odds of experiencing lifetime substance use was 2.5 times higher among students who had substance user family than who don’t have, [AOR = 2.5, 95%CI: 1.1, 5.8]. Having an intimate friend who uses substance and easily availability of drugs in the Ataye town were also had a contribution to experience any substance use in a lifetime, [AOR = 5.3, 95% CI: 2.6, 10.9], and [AOR = 2.3, 95% CI: 1.2, 4.4] respectively (Table 6).
Table 6
Bivariate and multivariate analysis to identify associated factors with lifetime drug use among Ataye TVET students, Ethiopia, 2019.
Variables | Lifetime use | COR (95%CI) | AOR (95% CI) | AOR P-value |
Yes | No |
Sex | Male | 112 | 128 | 3.85(2.55,5.81) | 2.2 (1.23,3.84) | 0.008* |
Female | 45 | 198 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
Living year in the town | 1–5 years | 70 | 138 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
6–10 years | 19 | 77 | 0.49(0.27, 0.87) | 0.81(0.33,2.00) | 0.644 |
11–15 years | 7 | 33 | 0.42(0.18, 0.99) | 0.5(0.15,1.66) | 0.260 |
16–20 years | 29 | 63 | 0.91(0.54,1.54) | 0.53(0.21,1.33) | 0.18 |
> 20 years | 32 | 15 | 4.21(2.14, 8.28) | 3.45 (1.18,10.1) | 0.024* |
Parent marital status | Married | 88 | 288 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
Widowed/widower | 11 | 19 | 1.90(0.87,4.13 | 1.13(0.37,3.44) | 0.83 |
Divorced | 58 | 19 | 9.99(5.65,17.67) | 4.1(1.78,9.3) | 0.001* |
Family member substance use | No | 85 | 306 | | 1.00 | |
Yes | 72 | 20 | 12.96(7.47,22.48) | 2.5(1.1,5.8) | 0.032* |
Intimate friend substance user | No | 69 | 300 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
Yes | 88 | 26 | 14.72(8.84, 24.5) | 5.3(2.6,10.9) | 0.00* |
Easily availability of substances | No | 43 | 261 | | 1.00 | |
Yes | 114 | 65 | 10.65(6.83,16.59) | 2.3(1.2,4.4) | 0.013* |
Key: *= significant factors (p-value < 0.05), COR = crude odds ratio, AOR = adjusted odds ratio |