Substance Use Among Homeless Reproductive Age People in Southern Ethiopia

Overview

Journal Int J Reprod Med

Publisher Wiley

Date 2021 Apr 5

PMID 33816608

Authors

Negash Wakgari

Terefe Woyo

Emnet Kebede

Hirut Gemeda

Wakgari Binu

Gonfa Moti

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Introduction: Substance use by homeless reproductive age people may result to anxiety, involvement of risky sexual behaviors, and increasing the likelihood of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Therefore, this study assessed the magnitude of alcohol use, sexual intercourse after alcohol use, and its associated factors among homeless reproductive age people in southern Ethiopia.

Methods: Community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among homeless reproductive age people. The snowball sampling technique was used to recruit 842 participants. Pretested and structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were entered into Epidata version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the association of independent variables with the outcome variables. Odds ratio with their 95% confidence interval and value was used to identify the significant variables.

Results: More than half 423 (53.2%) of the respondents had taken a drink that contains alcohol in the last one year of the study period. Out of 324 khat chewers, 190 (58.64%) had sex after chewing khat. More than one-thirds, 323(38.4%) homeless people were smoking cigarette during the study period. Factors associated with alcohol use were age 19-25 years (AOR: 0.49; CI: 0.34, 0.72), ≥26 years (AOR: 0.40; CI: 0.25, 0.65), level of education (AOR: 0.61; CI: 0.39, 0.94), place of residence: major urban (AOR: 0.31; CI: 0.18, 0.51), small town (AOR: 0.38; CI: 0.23, 0.63), ever heard about STDs (AOR: 0.14; CI: 0.07, 027), and being a cigarette smoker (AOR: 2.67; CI: 1.94, 3.71).

Conclusions: In this study, significant percentage of respondents had taken a drink that contains alcohol. Age, level of education, place of residence, ever heard about STDs, and smoking cigarette were variables significantly associated with alcohol use. Awareness creation on the effect and outcome of substance use is recommended.

References

Hadland S, Marshall B, Kerr T, Zhang R, Montaner J, Wood E . A comparison of drug use and risk behavior profiles among younger and older street youth. Subst Use Misuse. 2011; 46(12):1486-94. PMC: 3799836. DOI: 10.3109/10826084.2011.561516. View

Hathazi D, Lankenau S, Sanders B, Jackson Bloom J . Pregnancy and sexual health among homeless young injection drug users. J Adolesc. 2008; 32(2):339-55. PMC: 2692523. DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2008.02.001. View

Chaudhury S, Das S, Ukil B . Psychological assessment of alcoholism in males. Indian J Psychiatry. 2010; 48(2):114-7. PMC: 2913560. DOI: 10.4103/0019-5545.31602. View

Fox H, Bergquist K, Peihua G, Rajita S . Interactive effects of cumulative stress and impulsivity on alcohol consumption. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2010; 34(8):1376-85. PMC: 3676668. DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01221.x. View

Battistella G, Fornari E, Annoni J, Chtioui H, Dao K, Fabritius M . Long-term effects of cannabis on brain structure. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2014; 39(9):2041-8. PMC: 4104335. DOI: 10.1038/npp.2014.67. View

Heerde J, Hemphill S . Sexual Risk Behaviors, Sexual Offenses, and Sexual Victimization Among Homeless Youth: A Systematic Review of Associations With Substance Use. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2015; 17(5):468-489. DOI: 10.1177/1524838015584371. View

Heerde J, Scholes-Balog K, Hemphill S . Associations between youth homelessness, sexual offenses, sexual victimization, and sexual risk behaviors: a systematic literature review. Arch Sex Behav. 2014; 44(1):181-212. DOI: 10.1007/s10508-014-0375-2. View

Graham K, Massak A, Demers A, Rehm J . Does the association between alcohol consumption and depression depend on how they are measured?. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2007; 31(1):78-88. DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2006.00274.x. View

Kingston S, Rose M, Cohen-Serrins J, Knight E . A Qualitative Study of the Context of Child and Adolescent Substance Use Initiation and Patterns of Use in the First Year for Early and Later Initiators. PLoS One. 2017; 12(1):e0170794. PMC: 5266230. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170794. View

10.

Li W, Caltabiano N . Prevalence of substance abuse and socio-economic differences in substance abuse in an Australian community-dwelling elderly sample. Health Psychol Open. 2017; 4(1):2055102917708136. PMC: 5438039. DOI: 10.1177/2055102917708136. View

11.

Haile K, Umer H, Fanta T, Birhanu A, Fejo E, Tilahun Y . Pathways through homelessness among women in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A qualitative study. PLoS One. 2020; 15(9):e0238571. PMC: 7467327. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238571. View

12.

Tucker J, Ryan G, Golinelli D, Ewing B, Wenzel S, Kennedy D . Substance use and other risk factors for unprotected sex: results from an event-based study of homeless youth. AIDS Behav. 2011; 16(6):1699-707. PMC: 3244544. DOI: 10.1007/s10461-011-0017-9. View

13.

Francis J, Grosskurth H, Changalucha J, Kapiga S, Weiss H . Systematic review and meta-analysis: prevalence of alcohol use among young people in eastern Africa. Trop Med Int Health. 2014; 19(4):476-88. PMC: 4065366. DOI: 10.1111/tmi.12267. View

14.

Asante K, Meyer-Weitz A, Petersen I . Substance use and risky sexual behaviours among street connected children and youth in Accra, Ghana. Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2014; 9:45. PMC: 4258041. DOI: 10.1186/1747-597X-9-45. View

15.

Nada K, Suliman E . Violence, abuse, alcohol and drug use, and sexual behaviors in street children of Greater Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt. AIDS. 2010; 24 Suppl 2:S39-44. DOI: 10.1097/01.aids.0000386732.02425.d1. View

16.

Grinman M, Chiu S, Redelmeier D, Levinson W, Kiss A, Tolomiczenko G . Drug problems among homeless individuals in Toronto, Canada: prevalence, drugs of choice, and relation to health status. BMC Public Health. 2010; 10:94. PMC: 2841106. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-10-94. View

17.

Jacobus J, Squeglia L, Bava S, Tapert S . White matter characterization of adolescent binge drinking with and without co-occurring marijuana use: a 3-year investigation. Psychiatry Res. 2013; 214(3):374-81. PMC: 3900025. DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2013.07.014. View

18.

Santa Maria D, Narendorf S, Cross M . Prevalence and Correlates of Substance Use in Homeless Youth and Young Adults. J Addict Nurs. 2018; 29(1):23-31. DOI: 10.1097/JAN.0000000000000206. View

19.

Walls N, Bell S . Correlates of engaging in survival sex among homeless youth and young adults. J Sex Res. 2010; 48(5):423-36. DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2010.501916. View

20.

Ayenew M, Kabeta T, Woldemichael K . Prevalence and factors associated with substance use among street children in Jimma town, Oromiya national regional state, Ethiopia: a community based cross-sectional study. Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2020; 15(1):61. PMC: 7441729. DOI: 10.1186/s13011-020-00304-3. View