Prevalence of Psychoactive Substance Abuse in a University Community: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study examined the prevalence of substance abuse in a University Community; involving 394 participants that were selected using multi-staged sampling method; from four departments in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. They comprised of 278 students, and 116 staff. Their ages ranged from 18 to 62 years; with a mean age of 24, and standard deviation of 7. Two instruments were used for data collection, they are: Campus Awareness of Psychoactive Substance Abuse Questionnaire (CAPSAQ), and Drug abuse screening test (DAST). This study was a cross-section survey, and descriptive (percentage), and two-way ANOVA were adopted as the statistical tools for data analysis. The descriptive statistics revealed that 5.1% of the total participants abuse drug. It was also showed that among the male’s participants, 6% abuse drug; while 5.2% of the female’s participants, abuse drug. The results also showed that 3.4% of the staff’s participants abuse drug; while 6.1% of the students’ participants abuse drug. On awareness of harm caused by drugs, 81% of the male’s participants were well informed; while 62% of the female’s participants were well informed. The analyses further revealed that among the drug peddlers on Campus, staff’s involvement was rated as 13.9%, students’ involvement as 33.8%; while outsiders constituted 52.3%. More so, the ANOVA statistics showed that there was no significant difference between males and females on substance abuse at F(1,390)=.778, p>.05. However, a significant difference was found between staff and students on substance abuse at F(1,390)=5.617, p<.05). Based on the findings of this study, the researchers recommended among others, that there is need for the University management to step up on anti-drug policies in the University, and its’ enforcement. Keywords: prevalence, psychoactive substance, abuse, university, community