Publication:

Substance abuse among male adolescents in northern India

Background The rising burden of substance abuse among adolescents is a major public health challenge worldwide. The present study was undertaken to find out the prevalence of substance abuse among adolescents in Kanpur.

Methods This community based, cross-sectional study was conducted in among 539 male adolescents in the age group 10-18 years using simple random sampling. A pre-tested and pre-designed schedule was used to collect the relevant information after taking informed consent. The data was analyzed using SPSS software.

Results Substance abuse was found among 15.02% male adolescents. Smoking was prevalent among 10.95%, alcohol was used by 3.34% and other drugs were used by 0.75% male adolescents. There was an increase in prevalence of substance abuse with the increase in age.

Conclusions It is important to strengthen health education on substance abuse among the adolescents age group through mass media and school health programs.