Tramadol abuse and its related factors among higher education students in the city of Damghan, Semnan Province, Iran

Tramadol is an opioid analgesic with the potential for addiction to other opioids, and one of the abused drugs in different countries including Iran. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence and factors relating to tramadol abuse among higher education students in the city of Damghan in 2016.The present descriptive-analytical study enrolled 730 students from seven higher education centers in Damghan. The samples were selected by simple random sampling, and researcher-made questionnaires were issued to them, and collected immediately after completion. The extracted data were analyzed in STAT-13 using Likelihood Ratio Chi-Square and 2 independent sample T-test at P 0.05 significant level. Of all students, 4.71% had a history of tramadol abuse, of whom, 25% were current users. The highest abuse was observed among single (72.73%), male students (88.24%), with a history of smoking (90.91%), and university educated mothers (32.14%), friends with a history of drug abuse (57.69%), and very good knowledge of drugs (59.23%), who were very happy with their academic discipline (33.33%). Tramadol abuse was found to have a significant relationship with the academic average score, gender, marital status, mother s education, history of smoking, drug abuse by friends, knowledge of drugs, and satisfaction with academic discipline (P-value 0.05).Although the prevalence of tramadol abuse among Damghan s higher education students is rendered as low, given the growing trend of its abuse in the society, especially among the young and student strata, further studies and planning for the prevention of abuse are necessary.