Awareness, Knowledge and Pattern of Substance Use among Undergraduate Students in a Tertiary Institution in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Purpose: The rate at which the young people are getting involved in drug abuse is alarming, good knowledge of these substances should be able to affect the risky behaviour of the youths. This study examined the awareness, knowledge and pattern of substance use among undergraduates in a tertiary institution in Ekiti-State. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study among 460 undergraduates using multi-stage sampling technique. Pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire was administered, and data analysed using SPSS version 26. Descriptive analysis was done with figures, tables and percentages and association between dependent and independent variable with binary logistic regression. Findings: Mean age of the participants was 21.82±2.6 years. Almost all were aware of substance use 445 (96.5%) and 241 (52.8%) had good knowledge. Younger age and being a male were associated with good knowledge of substance use with p value < 0.05. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Awareness was good among participants while knowledge was average and being young and male gender were predictors. It is recommended that comprehensive education should be given starting from younger age group with more parental monitoring on the male child.