Prevalence and Associated Factors of Substance use in Medical Students at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences
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Date
2022-03-08
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Kamuzu University of Health Sciences
Abstract
Medical students who are future doctors hold a unique place in society and earn privileges and
responsibilities different from other students. Studies on the prevalence of substance use done in Malawi
included various university students but not medical students in particular. However, our study is based on
whether the perception of medical students is manipulated after being subjected to medical education or
not. The study aims at estimating the prevalence in medical students and what its associated factors are,
that contribute to students being involved in substance use during their studies.
A quantitative cross-sectional study will be carried out at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, which will be
looking at the prevalence and associated factors of substance use in students at KUHeS. Participants will be
selected by random sampling method. The data collection methods will be through a questionnaire and
Google forms (for Lilongwe campuses). We expect to study these participants for no more than 6 weeks. The
data will be collected and entered into Microsoft excel spread sheets and analysis will be done, therefrom.
Most medical students are consuming substances despite having thorough knowledge on the fatal effects of
substance use, and this is least expected from them. 1 out of 3 medical students used some of the illicit
drugs. This is building a generation of medical doctors who indulge in substance use. It can affect efficiency
and degrade their performance at work, and also has an impact on their career as they may not set a good
example to their patients therefore, affecting their perception (patient’s) on medical care.
As mentioned above, in Malawi there are no studies done on substance use primarily among medical
students. Therefore, this study will focus on medical students only, and the main objective is to explore the
main causes for the prevalence of substance use in this population. The study also aims at relating the level
of awareness of the harmful effects of substance use to the practice of using the substances.
Data will be collected by the use questionnaires that will be rolled out by the investigators. For participants
in Lilongwe campus, google forms will be used whose contents are similar to those of the questionnaires
that will be administered in Blantyre campus.
It is expected that the findings will show that there will be low prevalence of substance use in medical
students as they are subjected to more medical knowledge (higher academic years). It is also more likely that
males will indulge more in substance use as compared to females. Generally, in Malawi, the prevalence of
substance intake is higher than other countries hence expecting higher prevalence in medical students too.