Abstract
STUDY OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the prevalence, patterns and factors associated with substance abuse among youths of Ejigbo community, Osun State, Nigeria. METHOD: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study which employed cluster sampling method to select 420 consenting youths (aged 15-24years). Data were collected using interviewer-administered, semi structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were carried out at p < 0.05. RESULTS: The mean age (±SD) of the respondents was 19 ± 4.18 years. Majority (89%) of the respondents possessed good knowledge of substance abuse while 4% of them had a positive attitude towards it. Above a quarter (29.8%) of respondents had ever consumed alcoholic beverages while 12.3% of them had engaged in substance abuse. Besides alcohol, Shisha and tramadol were the most commonly abused substances in the study setting. Respondents' age (AOR=3.11;95%CI=1.67-5.24), gender (AOR=1.87;95%CI=1.53-9.25), attitude to substance use (AOR=5.90;95%3.45-10.23) and marital status (AOR=3.27;95%-CI=2.71-7.24) were the main determinants of substance abuse in the study setting. CONCLUSION: Respondents in the current study had good knowledge, predominantly negative attitude but a relatively high burden of substance abuse. There is urgent need for policy makers to upscale fights against the menace of substance abuse among rural Nigerian youths.