PREVALENCE AND DETERMINING FACTORS OF TOBACCO AND ALCOHOL USE AMONG STUDENTS IN SOME SELECTED SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN THE TAMALE METROPOLIS

Abstract

The study investigated the prevalence and factors that account for substance abuse - tobacco and alcohol usage - among students in the Tamale metropolis. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of tobacco and alcohol use in some selected senior high schools in the Tamale Metropolis. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out between September, 2018 and July, 2019 in four selected senior high schools namely; Ghana Senior High (Ghanasco), Business Secondary School (Bisco), Vitting Senior High School, and Anbayira Senior High School. Factors that determine tobacco and alcohol use were assessed using the Chi-square test for associations. A p-values less than 0.05 were considered as statistically significant.The prevalence of alcohol and tobacco consumption among the students were 29.8% (119/400) and 24.75% (99/400) respectively and most prevalent among males with 63.9 % (76/119) and 74.75 % (74/99) for alcohol and tobacco consumption respectively. There were significant associations between alcohol and tobacco consumption, and peer pressure, advertisement, social media, parental/sibling influence and availability/accessibility to alcohol. There is a substantial level of alcohol and tobacco use among students of senior high schools in Tamale. Sex and peer pressure are predictors of use of both alcohol and tobacco. Generally, alcohol and tobacco still remains a major public health concern and needs urgent measures to prevent it use among students and adolescents.