Methamphetamine use awareness, prevalence and socio-demographic risk factors among in-school adolescents in Ebonyi state, Nigeria

Methamphetamine (MA) use is on the rise in Nigeria with the dire consequences to the adolescent’s mental health, education, and society. Despite the pervasiveness and accessibility of the drug, relatively little research has examined in-school adolescents. Our study explored in-school adolescents MA use awareness, sources of information, prevalence and socio-demographic risk factors. A cross-sectional analytical design was applied, drawing on data from in-school adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 in Ebonyi state. The participants were recruited using a multistage sampling procedure, while a semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Percentages were used to analyze data on MA use awareness, sources of information, and prevalence, while multivariable logistic regression adjusted odds ratios (aORs) were used to analyze the association between socio-demographic risk factors and MA use. The level of significance was set at P < 0.05. The results reveal that the majority of in-school adolescents have MA use awareness (95.1 %). Social media, [Facebook/WhatsApp] were the most prominent sources of information (93.2 %). The lifetime prevalence of MA use was 19.2 %, past year 19.9 %, past month 23.5 %, and past week 7.8 %. The adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for socio-factors show peer pressure/friends was 3.22 times (P≤0.05) more likely than others to predict MA use. Demographic factors show that on-campus adolescents were 3.7 times, off-campus 4.23 times (P≤0.05) more likely than family house to predict MA. Being polygamous was 2.28 times, single parent 2.92 times more likely than being monogamous to predict MA, (P≤0.05). Being a traditional worshiper was 9.52 times less likely than being Christian, (P≤0.05), while being Muslim had no association with MA use (P≤0.05).These findings highlight the potential of adopting a multi-sectorial approach to tackle MA use, including social media use intervention, parental monitoring/support, therapists for risk behaviour counseling, scale-up school-based intervention policy/laws for early use prevention.