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Cannabis use in Tunisian high school adolescents: MedSPAD 2021

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2023

R. Mallekh ,
S. Rejaibi ,
A. Silini ,
M. Zid ,
I. Ben Slema ,
N. Zoghlami ,
S. Ben Youssef ,
M. Zribi ,
N. Ben Salah  and
H. Aounallah-Skhiri
R. Mallekh
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Health
S. Rejaibi
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Health Medical Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University Nutrition Surveillance and Epidemiology department, SURVEN Research Laboratory
A. Silini*
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Health Nutrition Surveillance and Epidemiology department, SURVEN Research Laboratory
M. Zid
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Health
I. Ben Slema
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Health
N. Zoghlami
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Health
S. Ben Youssef
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Health
M. Zribi
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Health
N. Ben Salah
Affiliation:
Medical Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University Intensive Care Unit department, Center for Urgent Medical Assistance, Tunis, Tunisia
H. Aounallah-Skhiri
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Health Medical Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University Nutrition Surveillance and Epidemiology department, SURVEN Research Laboratory
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Cannabis use is wrongly deemed “safe” by teenagers worldwide, despite its increased tetrahydrocannabinoids content and its psychosocial and cognitive harmful effectts.

Objectives

We aimed to estimate the prevalence of cannabis use, identify associated factors among Tunisian adolescents and assess the risk of problem cannabis use among users.

Methods

The 2021-Mediterranean School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (MedSPAD) is a national survey, targeting Tunisian high school adolescents aged 16 to 18 years.

Based on a self-administered questionnaire, adolescents were asked about their engagement in several risky behaviours including cannabis use. The 6-item Cannabis Abuse Screening Test (CAST) was intended for users to assess the risk of problem cannabis use.

Binary logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated to cannabis use and Adjusted Odds Ratios (AORs) were presented with correspondent 95% confidence intervals (CI). Cspro and STATA software were used for data entry and analysis respectively.

Results

Among 6201 participants (girls: 60.4%), lifetime prevalence of cannabis use was 7.9% ,95% CI [7.0, 8.9] significantly higher among boys (16.1 % Vs. 2.5 % in girls, p<10-4). Early onset (at 13 or younger) was reported by 8.6% of users.

Multivariate analysis showed that cannabis use was more prevalent in Tunis district(p=0.04), and significantly associated to alcohol, tobacco and electronic-cigarettes use (AOR of 6.2, 4.2 and 2.6 respectively, p<10-3). Absenteeism for non-medical reasons and nights spent away from home were also independent factors significantly associated with cannabis use (p<10-3).

The CAST indicated a high risk of cannabis-use-related problems in 67.2% of respondents (n=223).

Conclusions

Cannabis use is increasingly common in Tunisian adolescents. Moreover, the alarming risk of problem cannabis use warrant the urgent need for school-based interventions and screening programs to prevent and control cannabis use especially among vulnerable subgroups.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 66 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 31st European Congress of Psychiatry , March 2023 , pp. S530
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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