Original Research Article
Year: 2018 | Month: July | Volume: 5 | Issue: 7 | Pages: 182-186
Substance Abuse among the Undergraduate Students of a Medical College of Kolkata
Dr. Debdutta Haldar, Dr. Kunal Kanti Majumdar, Dr. Supratik Roy
Department of Community Medicine, KPC Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Corresponding Author: Dr. Kunal Kanti Majumdar
ABSTRACT
Background- Drug dependence has been showing a rising trend all over the world perhaps as a result of newer and greater stresses related to rapid changes in life styles. During adolescence students are more vulnerable due to increased academic pressure, peer group influence and increased popularity and availability of substances. Understanding the pattern and circumstances leading to substance abuse will help to go for appropriate interventions to protect the young adults from substance abuse. Aims and Objectives- To find out the sociodemographic profile, prevalence, causes and types of substance abuse among undergraduate medical students of KPC medical college, Kolkata. Materials and methods- A sample of 452 undergraduate medical students of KPC Medical College were included in the study during May 2015 to April 2016; stratified random sampling was done and 452 students were selected taking 113 students from each semester of students of the 4 semesters. Data was collected using a pre-tested questionnaire and analysis of data was done using suitable statistical tests. Results- Prevalence of substance abuse was found to be 60.26 % and it was predominately high among male students (75.09%). Alcohol (77.29%) was found to be the most common abuse followed by cigarette (76.56%), gutkha (20.51%) and drugs (13.55%). Academic pressure and curiosity were the major initiating factors. Conclusion- The medical students though aware of the hazards are continuing substance abuse and it reflects lack of health consciousness along with increased academic and peer group pressure. Proper counselling with well planned policies should be implemented to root out the evil of substance abuse among the future doctors.
Key words: Substance abuse, undergraduate medical students, drug dependence.
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