Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38894789›Full record

ArticleCureus2024

Substance Use, Alcohol Consumption, and Smoking Prevalence Amongst Medical Students in Erbil, Iraq.

Banaz Saeed, Omar Namiq

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cureus, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Banaz SaeedPsychiatry, College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, IRQ.
Omar NamiqMedicine, College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, IRQ.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundA significant proportion of medical students engage in the illicit use of drugs and indulge in heavy alcohol consumption. The utilization of substances during medical school frequently has repercussions on both the personal and professional lives of students. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the extent of substance use, alcohol consumption, and smoking among medical students in Erbil City.

methodsAn observational cross-sectional study was conducted at Hawler Medical University (HMU) for this purpose. The study involved 368 students from stages one to six. The questionnaire covered sociodemographic information, Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT), Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) scales. The data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2016 and IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26 (Released 2019; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States).

resultsA total of 368 students were involved in the study. The mean age (SD) of the respondents was 20.92 (2.01) years; 191 (51.9%) participants were males. Thirty-two (8.7%) students have used substance in the last 12 months; 10 (31.2%) of them were non-problematic drug users, 20 (62.5%) were problematic drug users, and 2 (6.3%) were dependent users. Twenty-nine (7.9%) students were alcohol users; 17 (58.7%) were categorized as low-risk users, 5 (17.2%) as hazardous users, and 7 (24.1%) as dependent users. Regarding smoking, 45 (12.2%) students were smokers, among this group, 27 (60%) were categorized as having low dependence, and 18 (40%) had high dependence.

conclusionThe findings suggest a worrying trend of substance misuse among university students. There is a critical need for targeted preventive interventions that address these issues to enhance student health and educational outcomes.

Indexed as

alcohol consumptioncigarette smokingdependencemedical studentsubstance use

Identifiers

PMID38894789
PMCPMC11184626

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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