Adolescents' drug use in Zimbabwe--comparing two recent studies.

OBJECTIVE

To indicate trends in drug use among secondary school students in Zimbabwe by comparing results from surveys conducted in 1990 and 1994.

DESIGN

Two classroom surveys using comparable instruments for data collection were conducted among secondary school children of different socio-economic subgroups in four provinces in Zimbabwe; one in 1990 and one in 1994. The comparison is restricted to Mashonaland. Both surveys applied a two stage sampling strategy with stratified random sampling of schools at first stage. Cross tabulations with age standardization and multiple regression analysis were applied to compare self reported drug use in the two studies.

SETTING

17 secondary schools in Harare, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Bulawayo and Matabeleland North Provinces were involved in the study.

SUBJECTS

Study A (1990): 2 581 secondary school students, 56pc boys, age range 12 to 21, mean age 15.5 years. Study B (1994): 3 061 secondary school students, 51.9pc boys age range 11 to 23, mean age 15.0 years.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Prevalence of self reported use of tobacco, alcohol, inhalants and cannabis.

RESULTS

Comparing results from the two studies indicates: a. Drug use is highest among private school students. b. Use of alcohol and tobacco increases with increasing socio-economic status. c. Use of inhalants and cannabis varies and is less pronounced between socio-economic subgroups. d. A general increase from 1990 to 1994 in life time drug use prevalence among private school students. e. An increase in life time alcohol prevalence among rural students. f. Increased frequency of use of alcohol and cannabis among boys.

CONCLUSIONS

Sociocultural differences with regards to drug use is demonstrated, suggesting a two way diffusion of Western drug use habits to rural areas and of traditional drug use to urban areas. In taking the necessary reservations with regard to the comparability of results from the two studies, the analysis indicates an increasing trend in use of the four most common drugs primarily among private school students and an increase in alcohol use among rural students.