Investigation of Risky Behavior Among Iranian Medical Students Based on Demographic Characteristics

Introduction: The likelihood of doing risky behavior such as drug use, highrisk sexual behavior, and adjustment problems in youth period is high. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of risky behaviors among firstyear medical students. Objectives: In this research, we intend to study the extent of risk behaviors based on demographic variables among medical students of Hamadan. Materials and Methods: This crosssectional study was carried out on all firstyear medical students (498 females and 292 males) of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences in the academic year 2016-2017. The study data were collected by the Iranian Youth RiskTaking Scale (IYRTS). Results: The mean scores of risky driving (2.86) (53.60%) and sexual relationship/attitude (2.43) (48.60%) were higher than other highrisk behaviors while the mean scores of drug use (1.33) (26.60%) and drinking (1.57) (31.40%) were lower than other risky behaviors in medical students. Results of the Chisquare test indicated that the risky behaviors in males were significantly higher than those in females (P 0.05). The results of 1sample ttest indicated that the prevalence of risky driving, violence, smoking, drug use and drinking in Hamadan medical students is less than average, and the sexual relationship and attitude among these students is at moderate level (P 0.05). The relationship between age and education with risky driving was negative and statistically significant. The violence was positively related to drinking and smoking. The sexual relation, attitude, and drinking statically significant. Conclusion: Since some sorts of risky behaviors among students are prevalent, it seems logical to inform adolescents and youth about such highrisk behaviors and related health issues.