USE OF PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES BY UNIVERSITY MEMBERS OF THE HEALTH AREA IN A INSTITUTION IN THE STATE OF GOIÁS

Abstract

OWING THE HIGH REVALENCE OF PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES CONSUMPTION BY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, THIS STUDY HAS TO ANALYZE THE CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO AND ILLICIT DRUGS BY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN THE HEALTH AREA OF �€‹�€‹A HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION IN THE STATE OF GOI�S AND RELATED FACTORS.A CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYTICAL STUDY WAS DEVELOPED AT A HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION (IES) IN THE STATE OF GOI�S. THE DATA COLLECTION TOOK PLACE FROM MARCH TO APRIL 2013. A CONVENIENCE SAMPLE COMPRISED OF 408 ACADEMICS FROM HEALTH CARE COURSES (PHYSIOTHERAPY, NURSING , MEDICINE, PHARMACY, PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND DENTISTRY. A QUESTIONNAIRE WAS WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION FOR SURVEYS OF ALCOHOL USE, DRUGS AND HEALTH CONDITIONS. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED IN THE STATISTICAL PACKAGE FOR THE SOCIAL SCIENCES (SPSS) FOR WINDOWS, VERSION 17.0. A DESCRIPTIVE AND INFERENTIAL STATISTICAL ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED TO IDENTIFY THE GROSS AND ADJUSTED CHANCES RATIO OF FACTORS RELATED TO DRUG USE. THE SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL WAS SET AT 0.05 AND THE 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL (CI) WAS USED FOR ALL STATISTICAL ANALYZES. THE RESULTS SHOW THAT ALCOHOL IS A PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCE OF HIGH CONSUMPTION AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN THE RESEARCH INSTITUTION, CONSUMED AT LEAST ONCE IN THE LIFE BY MORE THAN 70% OF THE ACADEMICS. TOBACCO WAS CONSUMED BY 18.2%. ILLICIT DRUGS WERE USED AT LEAST ONCE IN THEIR LIVES BY 14.2% OF THE PARTICIPANTS. THE MOST CONSUMED WERE MARIJUANA AND SOLVENTS. SMOKERS PRESENTED DOUBLE THE ODDS OF USING ILLICIT DRUGS ORA 2.1 (1.08-4.15) P <0.02. BEING SINGLE TRIPLEDTHIS CHANCE ORA 2.9 (1.31-6.57) P <0.009. THE RESULTS ARE WORRYING, SINCE HEALTH ACADEMICS HAVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCE ABUSE FOR HEALTH, AS WELL AS THE PROFESSIONALS RESPONSIBLE FOR PROMOTING HEALTH IN SOCIETY.