Correlates of illicit drug use among university students in Africa and the Caribbean

Abstract

The goal of this study was to estimate the prevalence and correlates of illicit drug use (IDU) among university students from eight countries in Africa and three countries in the Caribbean. In a cross-sectional survey, data were collected from 7 017 undergraduate university students (mean age 21.1, SD = 2.7, age range of 18–30 years) from 11 countries. Overall, 17.2% and 3.5% reported infrequent (1–9 times) and frequent (10 or more times) IDU in the past 12 months. In multivariate logistic regression models, residing on or off campus on their own, living in an upper middle or high income country, current tobacco use, binge drinking, and having been in a physical fight in the past 12 months were associated with both frequent and infrequent IDU. In addition, higher intrinsic religiosity and older age was found to be protective from infrequent IDU and associated with never using illicit drugs. The influences on IDU identified may be utilised for the design and implementation of social intervention programmes to curtail IDU by college students.