Prevalence of Substance Use Among Senior High School Students at the Paynesville Community School in Paynesville City, Montserrado County, Liberia

Abstract

Introduction: Globally, substance use causes a serious public health hazard and is extremely common during adolescence and early adulthood. Among the youthful population, the prevalence rate of substance use is disturbing. The issue is not solely detrimental for individuals but also harms society and families. Nevertheless, only little is known about the prevalence of substance use among high school students in Liberia. Aim: This study aims to determine the prevalence of substance use among senior high school students at the Paynesville Community School in Paynesville City, Montserrado County, Liberia. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional school-based study involving 278 senior high school students from grade 10, 11 and 12 in Paynesville Community School within Paynesville City, Montserrado County, Liberia. Stratified systematic sampling was used to proportionally select 278 students in grades 10, 11 and 12 into the study. Sociodemographic data was collected using a researcher – designed questionnaire while substance use was done using the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) tool. Fisher’s exact test, chi square test and bivariate logistic regression were used to check association between substance use and grades of the students. Multivariate analysis was used to estimate the same association while controlling for socio- demographic factors. Data analysis was done in RStudio Version 2021.09.2 Build 382. Results: Alcoholic beverages were the most used substance. There was a significant association between substance use and the grade of the students in both bivariate and multivariate analysis. Out of the 278 students, alcoholic beverages had the highest prevalence of 81.2% (n = 226). This was followed by cannabis, tobacco products and sedative at 22.6% (n = 63), 10.9% (n = 30) and 5.7% (n = 16) respectively. The lifetime prevalence for opioids was 3.9% (n = 11) while that of xi amphetamine type substances was 3.2% (n = 9). Hallucinogens and cocaine had a lifetime prevalence of 1.8% each. Inhalants had the lowest lifetime prevalence of 1.4% (n = 4). The number of students who had used at least one form of substance within the last three months prior to the commencement of the study reduced to187. This translated to an overall 90-day prevalence rate of 67.2%. Conclusion: Students in Paynesville are more exposed to alcohol and cannabis, in their lifetime, than most parts of the world but the habit subsides with age. Bigger research and surveillance should be carried out in order to establish a more generalized prevalence rate for Liberia.