MERICAN Journal of Pediatric Medicine and Health Sciences www.
grnjournal.us AMERICAN Journal of Pediatric Medicine and Health Sciences Volume 01, Issue 6, 2023 ISSN (E): 2993-2149 KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PERCEPTION AGAINST ILLICIT DRUG USE AMONG LEAD CITY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS Peter Olaoluwa Adediji Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. (Surveillance and Epidemiology Department) Ajala Comfort Omolayo School of Midwifery, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Lagos State. Ibrahim Babangida Mohammed Lead city University, Ibadan Nigeria. Chinwe Grace Azuka University of Calabar Ibrahim Doyinsola A, Lead city University, Ibadan Nigeria. Annotation. Substance abuse is a critical problem among adolescents and young adults in lead-city university,
Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, yet empirical evidence on substance use is limited. This study
explored the knowledge, attitude, and perceptions of drug abuse among undergraduate of a
university in Southwest Nigeria to help develop a preventive health education program for
students in tertiary institutions in Southwest Nigeria. A cross-sectional study that was designed
within the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perception (KAP) model was used to collect information
from 140 students. The age ranged from 17-32 years, with amean of 22.98 and SD ±3.14. The
males constituted 61% of the respondents. Median age for the initiation and the regular use of
drugs were 17 and 19 years. Almost all the students, 99% of them had been taught about drug
abuse. However, 35% of them did not see drug abuse as a major problem in the society. Up to
37% of them believed that suffering health damage or medical problem due to drug abuse is not
at all likely. The majority of the respondents (56%) believed that using drugs makes people cool,
and 8% of the participants had experienced withdrawal symptoms. The majority of them knew
that drug abuse could lead to mental illness (75%), violence, or aggressive outbursts under the
influence of drugs (71%). The findings will help in developing a frame work for effective
advocacy, policy formulation, and preventive health education program on substance abuse for
students
