Smoking Stages, Prevalence of Drug Abuse and Role of Associated Psychological and Social Factors: a Study on Male High School Students in Ilam City

Background & Aims: There are limited information about prevalence of smoking, drug abuse and its associated factors amongst Iranian students. The present study aimed to determine prevalence of smoking and drug abuse amongst male high school students in Ilam and the role of associated psychological and social factors. Method: Overall, 1000 male high school students were recruited using a multi-stage sampling method. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data gathering. Chi-square test and logistic regression model were used for univariate, multivariate and interactions analyses. Results: Mean age of students was 16.2 years. The prevalence of experimenter and regular smokers were 11.4% (95% CI: 9.3% -13.4%) and 1.3% (95% CI: 0.5%-2.0%) respectively. Prevalence rates of alcohol, opium, Tramadol, Hashish, Ecstasy and methamphetamine abuses were 11.1% (9.1%-13.0%), 2.8% (1.7%- 3.8%), 7.6% (5.9%-9.2%), 3.3% (2.1%-4.4%), 2.7% (1.6%-3.7%), and 2.1% (1.1%-3.0%) respectively. The logistic regression model showed a significant relationship between having a smoker friend (AOR: 1.99), self-injury (AOR: 2.35), peer pressure (AOR: 2.37) and Tramadol abuse (AOR: 3.00) and different stages of smoking. None of the considered interactions had significant effect. Conclusions: Although, prevalence of smoking in Ilam high school students was less than the corresponding reports from other provinces in Iran, drugs abuse followed the same pattern as the other provinces. In addition, psychosocial variables had an important role in adolescents smoking.