A STUDY ON TREND OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS FROM THEIR ADMISSION TO COMPLETION OF THE COURSE

Introduction: Substance abuse remains a hidden but well-known phenomenon among medical professionals and physicians around the world and is considered to be of particular importance among medical students. The study aims to assess the trend of substance abuse among medical students from their admission to completion of the course and various reasons to start these habits. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students who were admitted to Batch-2018 and doing their internship. Data was collected using a structured anonymous questionnaire and analysed using IBM-SPSS. Results: The trend of substance abuse among medical students at the time of admission was 5% which was signicantly increased to 40.7% on completion of the course. Alcohol, cigarettes and hookah were the most commonly abused substances. Occasion celebration, getting pleasure, psychological stress and peer pressure were the main reasons for substance abuse. Conclusions: There is a rise in the trend of substance abuse among medical students from their admission to completion of the course not only in males but also females.