Abstract

Background: Substance misuse is often a destructive social and familial problem that can extremely damage the health and well-being of a country's national assets; namely, its adolescents. Since high school is the riskiest period regarding the potential exposure to illicit drug use, this study aimed to determine and compare the depth of knowledge in male high school students. In order to generate the components of an effective and targeted education program, the two cities of Rafsanjan and Yazd, Iran were investigated. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, male high school students (n = 1913) from cities of Yazd (n = 1024) and Rafsanjan (n = 889) were selected through random stratified systematic cluster sampling. Data were collected using self-reported questionnaire surveying the students’ knowledge about illicit drugs. Data were analyzed by SPSS software, version 16 through descriptive (mean and relative frequency) and inferential statistics (Chi-square test, ANOVA, and t-test). Results: The mean (SD) of the students' knowledge about drugs in Yazd was 17.38 (11.39); in Rafsanjan it was 11.68 (8.68) (out of a possible total of 64) which showed a significant difference between the two cities (P-value < 0.0001). The mean (SD) score of knowledge about opiates (total possible score of 8) in Yazd was 5.4 (11.3) and in Rafsanjan was 5.92 (3.28), which was again statistically significant (P-value < 0.0001). Conclusion: Illicit drugs consumption remains a serious problem among Iranian adolescents. There is the need to implement preventive measures and counselling approaches in schools. Regarding the role of an addict in the family, increasing the knowledge of people about the negative effects of drugs use (especially opiates) might lead to the better prevention of this social problem and promotion of health.

Authors and Affiliations