Prevalence of psychoactive substance use by adolescents in public schools in a municipality in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area, Brazil

• Main Authors: Eliana Pereira Vellozo (Author), Maria Sylvia de Souza Vitalle (Author), Maria Aparecida Zanetti Passos (Author), Sheila Rejane Niskier (Author), Teresa Helena Schoen (Author), Peter Richard Hall (Author), Francisco Plácido Nogueira Arcanjo (Author), Roberto Fernandes da Costa (Author), Benjamin Israel Kopelman (Author), Tulio Konstantyner (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, 2023-02-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of psychoactive substance use by adolescents from public schools. This is a cross-sectional study that used a random sample of adolescents from five public schools located in a municipality in the central-west region of the São Paulo Metropolitan Area, Brazil. Information on demographic, socioeconomic, and drug use was collected using self-report questionnaires. The sample consisted of 1,460 students, 716 (49%) males, aged 10-19 years (13.19±2.04 years). The prevalence of psychoactive substance use in the last month was 51% for analgesics; 48.8% for alcohol; 37.3% for tobacco; 30.8% for tranquilizers; 23.1% for marijuana; 22.6% for anabolic steroids; 21.6% for ecstasy; 15.3% for amphetamines/stimulants; 13.4% for phencyclidine; 12.9% for cocaine/crack; 12.6% for inhalants/solvents; 11.5% for opiates; 11.4% for hallucinogens; and 16.2% for other unclassified drugs. Elementary and middle school students were more likely to consume tobacco (OR = 2.306; 95%CI: 1.733-3.068; p < 0.001), and male students were more likely to consume any type of substance. We identified a high use of psychoactive substances among this study participants, with a higher prevalence among male students.

Item Description

1678-4464
10.1590/0102-311xen169722