Substance Abuse among Students in a Dental School

Authors

  • Shishir Bhatta Department of Orthodontics, Kantipur Dental College, Basundhara, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Manish Raj Sapkota Department of Orthodontics, Kantipur Dental College, Basundhara, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Sujita Shrestha Department of Community and Public Health Dentistry, Kantipur Dental College, Basundhara, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Rabindra Man Shrestha Department of Orthodontics, Kantipur Dental College, Basundhara, Kathmandu, Nepal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31729/jnma.3900

Abstract

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.

Downloads

Published

2018-12-31

How to Cite

Bhatta, S., Sapkota, M. R., Shrestha, S., & Shrestha, R. M. (2018). Substance Abuse among Students in a Dental School. Journal of Nepal Medical Association, 56(214), 896–899. https://doi.org/10.31729/jnma.3900

Issue

Vol. 56 No. 214 (2018)

Section

Original Article

License

JNMA allow to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of its articles and allow readers to use them for any other lawful purpose. The author(s) are allowed to retain publishing rights without restrictions. The JNMA work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. More about Copyright Policy.