Prevalence of alcohol consumption and its associated factors among secondary school students in Moshi rural district, Tanzania

Abstract

According to 2002 World Health Organization (WHO) reports, it is estimated that, alcohol is the fourth leading cause of death and disability globally, almost at par with tobacco. Misuse of alcohol among youths and students has recently become a public health concern in Tanzania. Several studies in urban areas reveal the lifetime prevalence of alcohol use among students and youths to be between 8.7% and 38.4%. While very little is known on the extent of the problem and its associated factors in rural settings. A cross-sectional study involving 267 consented randomly selected secondary students of both sexes from the age of 18years and below was done in Moshi-Rural district using a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis was done using SPSS 15.0. The Chi-square test was used to examine the association between alcohol drinking and different factors. For attitudinal variables, Cronbach's alpha and ANOYA test were used. The significance level was set at 5%. Of the 267 participants, 150 (56.2%) were males and 117 (43.8%) were females, age range was from 13 to 18 years and mean age was 16.2 years (SD 1.0). The lifetime prevalence of alcohol was 43.1 % whereas the prevalence of current alcohol use was 13.5%. The most common type of alcohol consumed was locally brewed "Mbege". Main reasons for starting to drink alcohol were experimentation and friends. Low level of education of parents, friends (peers) drinking alcohol, parents and siblings drinking alcohol, ancestral offerings and ceremonies were associated with alcohol consumption. Given the extent of the study findings, there is a need of concerted efforts to convey basic factual information to the students and society at large on health hazards and social consequences of drinking alcohol.