Analyse the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior of the Productive Age Group in Bole Sub City, Addis Ababa Ethiopia, on Social Drug Usage

Abstract

Introduction: Drug use that is sporadic or ongoing but is inconsistent with or unrelated to a standard medical procedure is known as substance misuse. A maladaptive pattern of substance use results in clinically significant distress, which can be seen in the failure to fulfill important responsibilities at home, school, or work, substance use in physically dangerous situations, recurrent legal issues related to substance use, or continued substance use despite having ongoing or recurrent social or interpersonal issues that are made worse by the effects of the drugs. Objectives: This study's goal is to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of the productive age group in Bole Sub City, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, regarding social drug usage. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the Bole sub-city from 14 March to 14 June 2022 to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and use of social substances among the productive age groups. Result: Among the 237 study participants in total, 156(66%) of the respondents were men, and 81(34%) were women. Participants ranged in age from 17 to 60, with a median age of 36.5. Of the entire productive age group that was questioned, 168 of them were aware of the negative effects of Khat use, 39 were unaware, and 30 thought that Khat use had no negative effects. Similar to this, 153(65%) of them are certain that alcohol consumption has a negative impact on health, creates negative economic effects, and encourages criminal activity, 65(27%) are not certain, and 19 (8%) say it has no negative impact. 39 respondents, or 16.45%, said they have ever smoked in their lives. Among smokers, 12(30.76%) of them were used 3-5 cigarettes per a day, 8(20.5%) of them were used 6-10 cigarettes per a day, 6(13.38%) of them were used 11-20 cigarettes per day, 9(23.07%) of them were used 2 cigarettes per a day, and 10.25% of them were used 1 ciggaretes per a day. Conclusion: In the Bole sub-city, there was little awareness, little acceptance, and little practice of social drug use among the working age population. The KAP productive age groups with regard to social drug use are those with short and frequent trains to community awareness creation conferences, workshops, and meetings.