Substance Use and Its Correlates among Healthcare Workers in a Teaching and Referral Hospital in South Western Kenya: A Cross-Sectional Study DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajhs.v37i2.2

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Substance use has increased over time across different population groups. Between 1990 and 2010 the global burden of disease from mental health and substance use disorders (SUDs) increased by 37.6%. Healthcare workers are predisposed to substance use disorders and experience abuse and misuse of substances just like the general population increasing absenteeism and decreasing productivity. This study sought to establish the prevalence and correlates of substance use among healthcare workers in a teaching and referral hospital in South-Western Kenya.

METHODOLOGY: A quantitative cross-sectional analytical study was conducted at Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital, involving healthcare workers within the hospital in 2023. Data were collected using a self-administered Modified WHO Model-Core-Questionnaire and were analysed using StataTM v14 with descriptive statistics while further analysis was done with multivariate regression analysis. Approval for ethics was obtained from JOOTRH’s ISERC.

RESULTS: The sample size was 237. The study respondents’ mean age was 32.4 (SD 8.3) years with 51.90% being female. The lifetime prevalence of any substance use was 47.68% (95% CI 41.12-54.24%, n = 113), cigarette smoking 9.75% (n=23), alcohol 36.29% (95% CI 30.16%-42.76%), cannabis 8.44% (95% CI 5.23-12.73%), other opiate-type substances 10.97% (95% CI 7.29-15.66%), tranquillizer 3.80%, sedative-hypnotics 2.11%, amphetamine 4.24%, hallucinogens 0.84%, heroin 1.69%, cocaine use 2.11%, volatile inhalants 1.27% while it was 2.97% for injecting drug use. Current use for cigarettes was 4.66%, alcohol at 15.61%, 6.33% for other opiate-type drugs, and cannabis at 2.1%. Being male (aOR 1.46, 95% CI 0.79-2.72)), having more assets (aOR 1.25, 95% CI 0.28 – 5.57), and having a master’s degree (aOR 3.17, 95% CI 0.23 – 44.3) were associated with higher odds of substance use while being married (aOR 0.26, 95% CI 0.04 – 1.56), having more children (aOR of 0.77 (95% CI 0.54 – 1.11) and > 10-year experience (aOR 0.54, 95% CI 0.12 – 2.47) had lower odds.

CONCLUSION: Substance use prevalence among the respondents was higher compared to other similar populations in Kenya and globally. Being male, having a master’s degree and having more assets were associated with higher odds while being married, having more children and having more than 10 years of professional experience had lower odds of substance use.