INVESTIGATING RISKS IN DEPENDENCE PRODUCING DRUGS USERS AMONGSUB-POPULATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTES IN KARACHI;.A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Background: The non-medical use of dependence-producing drugs is not a new phenomenon and is strongly related with the global health burden. This study was conducted to ascertain the usage of different types along with risk assessment and the need for intervention of substance/ drug use among the medical students across Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: This cross – sectional study was performed at four medical colleges (two public and two private) across Karachi, Pakistan from July 2018 to January 2019. A total of 445 participants who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were inducted in present chosen for this study. A self administered self-administered screening questionnaire designed by World Health Organization ASSIST (i.e. (Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test) for assessing various levels of substance abuse was used to collect the information, which was then noted and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: Out of 445 respondents, 273 (61.3%) had never used any psychoactive substance, 97 (21.8%) had tried at least one, 34(7.6%) had used at least two, 23(5.2%) had tried three, while 18 (4%) had tried four or more psychoactive drugs in their life time. Nearly 26.3% respondents reported Tobacco consummation, was reportedly consumed by approximately 26.3% respondents, where in which 82% were found with at low risk/no intervention, 17.1% having moderate risk/brief intervention and 0.9% had high risk/intensive treatment category. Use of psychoactive drug was significantly higher among private medical college male students. Conclusion: As illustrated by this study, the wieldiest most commonly abused substance was tobacco-containing compounds followed by sedatives. The aforementioned trend occurrence was largeliest larcenist noted in private colleges where male students were remained as major contributors, mostly seen among male medical student belonging to the private sectors as compared to females and public sector colleges.