Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Haramaya University, Harar, Ethiopia.
PLoS One. 2012;7(3):e33946. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033946. Epub 2012 Mar 30.
Use of psychoactive drugs such as khat leaves (Catha edulis) alter moods and emotional state and lead to adverse effects on the health and social life of users. Ethiopia is a major producer and exporter of khat in east Africa and the majority of the khat comes from the eastern part of the country, however, no studies have been conducted to investigate the habit in this area. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence and predictors of khat chewing among high school students in Harar, eastern Ethiopia.
The study was conducted among 1,890 secondary school students in Harar town in April 2010. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were performed to examine the prevalence and predictors of khat chewing.
The overall prevalence of khat chewing among the sample was 24.2% (95% CI 22.2%-26.2%). About 28.5% of females and 71.5% of males had chewed khat. Older age (OR 1.31; 95% CI 1.16-1.49), male gender (OR 2.10; 95% CI 1.50-2.93), Muslim religion (OR 1.88; 95% CI 1.17-3.04), having friends who chewed khat (OR 7.93; 95% CI 5.40-11.64), and availability of someone with a similar habit in the family (OR 1.50; 95% CI 1.07-2.11) were found to be independent predictors of chewing.
A significant proportion of students chew khat. The use of khat is significantly associated with age, gender, Muslim religion, peer influence and habit of family and other relatives among students. Measures such as educational campaigns need to be instituted to create awareness among school adolescents and their parents in order to reduce the prevalence of the habit and its adverse social and health consequences.
使用诸如巧茶树叶（Catha edulis）等精神活性药物会改变情绪和情绪状态，并对使用者的健康和社会生活产生不良影响。埃塞俄比亚是东非主要的巧茶生产国和出口国，大部分巧茶来自该国东部，但尚未在该地区开展任何关于这一习惯的研究。本研究旨在评估在埃塞俄比亚东部哈拉尔市的高中生中咀嚼巧茶的流行率和预测因素。
2010 年 4 月，在哈拉尔镇的 1890 名中学生中进行了这项研究。使用结构化的自我管理问卷收集数据。进行描述性统计和逻辑回归分析，以检查咀嚼巧茶的流行率和预测因素。
在样本中，咀嚼巧茶的总体流行率为 24.2%（95%CI 22.2%-26.2%）。约 28.5%的女性和 71.5%的男性咀嚼过巧茶。年龄较大（OR 1.31；95%CI 1.16-1.49）、男性（OR 2.10；95%CI 1.50-2.93）、穆斯林宗教（OR 1.88；95%CI 1.17-3.04）、有咀嚼巧茶的朋友（OR 7.93；95%CI 5.40-11.64）以及家庭中有类似习惯的人（OR 1.50；95%CI 1.07-2.11）是咀嚼的独立预测因素。
相当一部分学生咀嚼巧茶。在学生中，巧茶的使用与年龄、性别、穆斯林宗教、同伴影响以及家庭和其他亲属的习惯显著相关。需要开展教育运动等措施，提高学校青少年及其家长的认识，以降低这种习惯的流行率及其对社会和健康的不利影响。
