TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2023//
TI  - Psychoactive substance abuse among commercial bus drivers in Umuahia, Abia State, South-Eastern Nigeria: an uncontrolled "epidemic" with attendant road traffic crashes
JO  - BMC public health
A1  - Akande, Roseline Oluyemisi
A1  - Akande, Joel Olufunminiyi
A1  - Babatunde, Olaniyan Akintunde
A1  - Ajayi, Adeola Olajumoke
A1  - Ajayi, Akindele Amos
A1  - Ige, Roseline Olabisi
A1  - Saliu, Ajedotun Shittu
A1  - Akande, Abayomi
A1  - Olatunji, Muideen Babatunde
SP  - e250
EP  - e250
VL  - 23
IS  - 1
N2  - BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The unprecedented depletion of the productive workforce has been majorly attributed to road traffic crashes (RTCs). The attendant consequences of this depletion have been found to constitute a serious global public health challenge, with the use of psychoactive substances among drivers implicated in every three of five motor vehicle accidents. Hence, this study assessed the pattern and explored the determinants of substance abuse among commercial bus drivers in Umuahia, Abia State. <br><br>METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used for the study. Four hundred commercial bus drivers were recruited from selected motor parks in Abia-state, using a multistage sampling technique from October to December 2020. A pretested, interviewer-administered questionnaire was administered to obtain socio-demographics and information on substance abuse. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 25; bivariate analysis was done using Chi-square. The level of significance was at 5%. <br><br>RESULTS: The mean age of the respondents was 40.03 ± 10.50 years. The proportion of respondents who had ever abused a psychoactive substance was 74.6%. The most commonly abused substances among drivers include alcohol (51%), cigarettes (27%), and alcoholic herbal mixtures (16%). The study participants had poor knowledge (54.5%) and poor perception (63.2%) about psychoactive substance abuse. Among the factors found to be significantly associated with substance abuse among respondents were ethnicity (p = 0.002), religion (p = 0.009) and monthly income (p = 0.013) of the respondents, poor knowledge (p < 0.001) and poor perception (p < 0.001). However, this study found religion (p = 0.031; OR = 5.469; CI = 1.170 to 25.555), knowledge (p < 0.001; OR = 4.21; CI = 2.201 to 8.287) and perception (p < 0.001; OR = 9.828; CI = 15.572 to 65.052) as factors that were associated with the higher likelihood of psychoactive substance abuse. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Religion, poor knowledge and perception were associated with the higher likelihood of psychoactive substance abuse among commercial bus drivers. Targeting commercial bus drivers for educational interventions and using religious leaders as conveyor belts may reduce the use of psychoactive substances among them.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1471-2458
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15039-6
ID  - ref1
ER  -