prevalence and factors associated with tramadol abuse among college students in west of iran: an application of the theory of planned behavior

background tramadol is an opioid analgesic indicated for the treatment of moderate and severe pains. in the case of long administration, tramadol has a potential to cause dependency, tolerance and drug abuse. objectives this study aimed to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with tramadol abuse among college students based on the theory of planned behavior (tpb) as a theoretical framework. patients and methods this descriptive-analytical study was performed on 400 college students of hamadan universities recruited with a stratified sampling method. the data-gathering tool was a questionnaire based on the tpb constructs. data was analyzed by logistic regression and bivariate correlations using spss-19 software. results the subjects reported 50%, 35% and 77% of maximum receivable scores of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavior control, respectively. in total, 12.5% of participants indicated drug abuse in the past. subjective norms and perceived behavioral control were better predictors for tramadol abuse. conclusions results demonstrated the unique importance of subjective norms and perceived behavioral control when examining substance abuse among college students.