Substance Abuse among Students in a Dental School.

INTRODUCTION

Substance abuse has become a burning issue among the medical and dental students. Dental students, who later transform into dentists, have a significant role in substance abuse cessation. Thus the study was undertaken to quantify substance abuse among dental students of Kantipur Dental College.

METHODS

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using pretested self-administered questionnaire among undergraduate and post graduate students of Kantipur Dental College. Convenience sampling was done and sample size was calculated.

RESULTS

Study revealed 166 (74.10%) as never smokers, 3 (1.30%) as former smokers and 55 (24.60%) as current smokers. Similarly 97 (43.3%) students never used alcoholic drink, 95 (42.41%) consumed alcohol monthly, 29 (12.95%) consumed alcohol 2-4 times a month and 3 (1.34%) consumed alcohol 2-3 times a week. A total of 78 (35%) students used cannabis.

CONCLUSIONS

Substantial numbers of students were indulged in deleterious habits of smoking, tobacco and cannabis intake. Students need to be properly counselled to discourage substance abuse and create a healthy society.