Psychoactive substance use and associated expenditure among undergraduate students of two universities in south west Nigeria

Introduction
This study determined the prevalence of psychoactive substance use, awareness of its health risks and the financial expenditure of purchasing these substances among undergraduate students.

Material and methods
A cross-sectional descriptive design involving 521 undergraduate students from second to terminal year of study from selected faculties of two universities in south west Nigeria was employed. One in every two students in the selected faculties were involved in the study. Modified WHO-validated Alcohol Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test 3.0 model (ASSIST) was used to assess information on participants’ use of psychoactive substances. The data were analysed using SPSS version 23.

Results
The response rate was 85.7%. Mild stimulants (23.1% and 20.0%), and alcoholic beverages (16.1% and 10.7%) were commonly used in the public and private universities respectively. Those participants that either abstained or ceased using substances indicated that awareness of health risks and/or religious beliefs were the main reasons. Among users, the most frequently reported reason for using psychoactive substances was the need to keep alert to read. Most of the current mild stimulants and cannabis users had not made much effort to reduce their consumption. Average monthly stipend of participants was $47.0 ± 65.8 and $81.5 ± 106.3 in the public and private universities respectively. There was a positive significant correlation of monthly stipend and amount spent monthly on psychoactive substances (Pearson correlation r = 0.344, p = 0.02).

Discussion
Mild stimulants were the most commonly used substances with the main reason being the need to meet study-related requirements. Moreover, higher income could be a factor in the increased use of substances. Some of the respondents had knowledge about the risks associated with psychoactive substance use though a high percentage of missing data may indicate a lack of such knowledge in some.

Conclusions
Given that awareness of health consequences motivates students to abstain, educational programmes targeted at reducing substances use among these undergraduates are required.