Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, ISSN - 0973 - 709X

Users Online : 160627

AbstractMaterial and MethodsResultsDiscussionConclusionReferencesDOI and Others
Article in PDF How to Cite Citation Manager Readers' Comments (0) Audio Visual Article Statistics Link to PUBMED Print this Article Send to a Friend
Advertisers Access Statistics Resources

Dr Mohan Z Mani

"Thank you very much for having published my article in record time.I would like to compliment you and your entire staff for your promptness, courtesy, and willingness to be customer friendly, which is quite unusual.I was given your reference by a colleague in pathology,and was able to directly phone your editorial office for clarifications.I would particularly like to thank the publication managers and the Assistant Editor who were following up my article. I would also like to thank you for adjusting the money I paid initially into payment for my modified article,and refunding the balance.
I wish all success to your journal and look forward to sending you any suitable similar article in future"



Dr Mohan Z Mani,
Professor & Head,
Department of Dermatolgy,
Believers Church Medical College,
Thiruvalla, Kerala
On Sep 2018




Prof. Somashekhar Nimbalkar

"Over the last few years, we have published our research regularly in Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research. Having published in more than 20 high impact journals over the last five years including several high impact ones and reviewing articles for even more journals across my fields of interest, we value our published work in JCDR for their high standards in publishing scientific articles. The ease of submission, the rapid reviews in under a month, the high quality of their reviewers and keen attention to the final process of proofs and publication, ensure that there are no mistakes in the final article. We have been asked clarifications on several occasions and have been happy to provide them and it exemplifies the commitment to quality of the team at JCDR."



Prof. Somashekhar Nimbalkar
Head, Department of Pediatrics, Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad
Chairman, Research Group, Charutar Arogya Mandal, Karamsad
National Joint Coordinator - Advanced IAP NNF NRP Program
Ex-Member, Governing Body, National Neonatology Forum, New Delhi
Ex-President - National Neonatology Forum Gujarat State Chapter
Department of Pediatrics, Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, Anand, Gujarat.
On Sep 2018




Dr. Kalyani R

"Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research is at present a well-known Indian originated scientific journal which started with a humble beginning. I have been associated with this journal since many years. I appreciate the Editor, Dr. Hemant Jain, for his constant effort in bringing up this journal to the present status right from the scratch. The journal is multidisciplinary. It encourages in publishing the scientific articles from postgraduates and also the beginners who start their career. At the same time the journal also caters for the high quality articles from specialty and super-specialty researchers. Hence it provides a platform for the scientist and researchers to publish. The other aspect of it is, the readers get the information regarding the most recent developments in science which can be used for teaching, research, treating patients and to some extent take preventive measures against certain diseases. The journal is contributing immensely to the society at national and international level."



Dr Kalyani R
Professor and Head
Department of Pathology
Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College
Sri Devaraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Research , Kolar, Karnataka
On Sep 2018




Dr. Saumya Navit

"As a peer-reviewed journal, the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research provides an opportunity to researchers, scientists and budding professionals to explore the developments in the field of medicine and dentistry and their varied specialities, thus extending our view on biological diversities of living species in relation to medicine.
‘Knowledge is treasure of a wise man.’ The free access of this journal provides an immense scope of learning for the both the old and the young in field of medicine and dentistry as well. The multidisciplinary nature of the journal makes it a better platform to absorb all that is being researched and developed. The publication process is systematic and professional. Online submission, publication and peer reviewing makes it a user-friendly journal.
As an experienced dentist and an academician, I proudly recommend this journal to the dental fraternity as a good quality open access platform for rapid communication of their cutting-edge research progress and discovery.
I wish JCDR a great success and I hope that journal will soar higher with the passing time."



Dr Saumya Navit
Professor and Head
Department of Pediatric Dentistry
Saraswati Dental College
Lucknow
On Sep 2018




Dr. Arunava Biswas

"My sincere attachment with JCDR as an author as well as reviewer is a learning experience . Their systematic approach in publication of article in various categories is really praiseworthy.
Their prompt and timely response to review's query and the manner in which they have set the reviewing process helps in extracting the best possible scientific writings for publication.
It's a honour and pride to be a part of the JCDR team. My very best wishes to JCDR and hope it will sparkle up above the sky as a high indexed journal in near future."



Dr. Arunava Biswas
MD, DM (Clinical Pharmacology)
Assistant Professor
Department of Pharmacology
Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital , Kolkata




Dr. C.S. Ramesh Babu
" Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (JCDR) is a multi-specialty medical and dental journal publishing high quality research articles in almost all branches of medicine. The quality of printing of figures and tables is excellent and comparable to any International journal. An added advantage is nominal publication charges and monthly issue of the journal and more chances of an article being accepted for publication. Moreover being a multi-specialty journal an article concerning a particular specialty has a wider reach of readers of other related specialties also. As an author and reviewer for several years I find this Journal most suitable and highly recommend this Journal."
Best regards,
C.S. Ramesh Babu,
Associate Professor of Anatomy,
Muzaffarnagar Medical College,
Muzaffarnagar.
On Aug 2018




Dr. Arundhathi. S
"Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (JCDR) is a reputed peer reviewed journal and is constantly involved in publishing high quality research articles related to medicine. Its been a great pleasure to be associated with this esteemed journal as a reviewer and as an author for a couple of years. The editorial board consists of many dedicated and reputed experts as its members and they are doing an appreciable work in guiding budding researchers. JCDR is doing a commendable job in scientific research by promoting excellent quality research & review articles and case reports & series. The reviewers provide appropriate suggestions that improve the quality of articles. I strongly recommend my fraternity to encourage JCDR by contributing their valuable research work in this widely accepted, user friendly journal. I hope my collaboration with JCDR will continue for a long time".



Dr. Arundhathi. S
MBBS, MD (Pathology),
Sanjay Gandhi institute of trauma and orthopedics,
Bengaluru.
On Aug 2018




Dr. Mamta Gupta,
"It gives me great pleasure to be associated with JCDR, since last 2-3 years. Since then I have authored, co-authored and reviewed about 25 articles in JCDR. I thank JCDR for giving me an opportunity to improve my own skills as an author and a reviewer.
It 's a multispecialty journal, publishing high quality articles. It gives a platform to the authors to publish their research work which can be available for everyone across the globe to read. The best thing about JCDR is that the full articles of all medical specialties are available as pdf/html for reading free of cost or without institutional subscription, which is not there for other journals. For those who have problem in writing manuscript or do statistical work, JCDR comes for their rescue.
The journal has a monthly publication and the articles are published quite fast. In time compared to other journals. The on-line first publication is also a great advantage and facility to review one's own articles before going to print. The response to any query and permission if required, is quite fast; this is quite commendable. I have a very good experience about seeking quick permission for quoting a photograph (Fig.) from a JCDR article for my chapter authored in an E book. I never thought it would be so easy. No hassles.
Reviewing articles is no less a pain staking process and requires in depth perception, knowledge about the topic for review. It requires time and concentration, yet I enjoy doing it. The JCDR website especially for the reviewers is quite user friendly. My suggestions for improving the journal is, more strict review process, so that only high quality articles are published. I find a a good number of articles in Obst. Gynae, hence, a new journal for this specialty titled JCDR-OG can be started. May be a bimonthly or quarterly publication to begin with. Only selected articles should find a place in it.
An yearly reward for the best article authored can also incentivize the authors. Though the process of finding the best article will be not be very easy. I do not know how reviewing process can be improved. If an article is being reviewed by two reviewers, then opinion of one can be communicated to the other or the final opinion of the editor can be communicated to the reviewer if requested for. This will help one’s reviewing skills.
My best wishes to Dr. Hemant Jain and all the editorial staff of JCDR for their untiring efforts to bring out this journal. I strongly recommend medical fraternity to publish their valuable research work in this esteemed journal, JCDR".



Dr. Mamta Gupta
Consultant
(Ex HOD Obs &Gynae, Hindu Rao Hospital and associated NDMC Medical College, Delhi)
Aug 2018




Dr. Rajendra Kumar Ghritlaharey

"I wish to thank Dr. Hemant Jain, Editor-in-Chief Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (JCDR), for asking me to write up few words.
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium i e; into the words and sentences on paper. Quality medical manuscript writing in particular, demands not only a high-quality research, but also requires accurate and concise communication of findings and conclusions, with adherence to particular journal guidelines. In medical field whether working in teaching, private, or in corporate institution, everyone wants to excel in his / her own field and get recognised by making manuscripts publication.


Authors are the souls of any journal, and deserve much respect. To publish a journal manuscripts are needed from authors. Authors have a great responsibility for producing facts of their work in terms of number and results truthfully and an individual honesty is expected from authors in this regards. Both ways its true "No authors-No manuscripts-No journals" and "No journals–No manuscripts–No authors". Reviewing a manuscript is also a very responsible and important task of any peer-reviewed journal and to be taken seriously. It needs knowledge on the subject, sincerity, honesty and determination. Although the process of reviewing a manuscript is a time consuming task butit is expected to give one's best remarks within the time frame of the journal.
Salient features of the JCDR: It is a biomedical, multidisciplinary (including all medical and dental specialities), e-journal, with wide scope and extensive author support. At the same time, a free text of manuscript is available in HTML and PDF format. There is fast growing authorship and readership with JCDR as this can be judged by the number of articles published in it i e; in Feb 2007 of its first issue, it contained 5 articles only, and now in its recent volume published in April 2011, it contained 67 manuscripts. This e-journal is fulfilling the commitments and objectives sincerely, (as stated by Editor-in-chief in his preface to first edition) i e; to encourage physicians through the internet, especially from the developing countries who witness a spectrum of disease and acquire a wealth of knowledge to publish their experiences to benefit the medical community in patients care. I also feel that many of us have work of substance, newer ideas, adequate clinical materials but poor in medical writing and hesitation to submit the work and need help. JCDR provides authors help in this regards.
Timely publication of journal: Publication of manuscripts and bringing out the issue in time is one of the positive aspects of JCDR and is possible with strong support team in terms of peer reviewers, proof reading, language check, computer operators, etc. This is one of the great reasons for authors to submit their work with JCDR. Another best part of JCDR is "Online first Publications" facilities available for the authors. This facility not only provides the prompt publications of the manuscripts but at the same time also early availability of the manuscripts for the readers.
Indexation and online availability: Indexation transforms the journal in some sense from its local ownership to the worldwide professional community and to the public.JCDR is indexed with Embase & EMbiology, Google Scholar, Index Copernicus, Chemical Abstracts Service, Journal seek Database, Indian Science Abstracts, to name few of them. Manuscriptspublished in JCDR are available on major search engines ie; google, yahoo, msn.
In the era of fast growing newer technologies, and in computer and internet friendly environment the manuscripts preparation, submission, review, revision, etc and all can be done and checked with a click from all corer of the world, at any time. Of course there is always a scope for improvement in every field and none is perfect. To progress, one needs to identify the areas of one's weakness and to strengthen them.
It is well said that "happy beginning is half done" and it fits perfectly with JCDR. It has grown considerably and I feel it has already grown up from its infancy to adolescence, achieving the status of standard online e-journal form Indian continent since its inception in Feb 2007. This had been made possible due to the efforts and the hard work put in it. The way the JCDR is improving with every new volume, with good quality original manuscripts, makes it a quality journal for readers. I must thank and congratulate Dr Hemant Jain, Editor-in-Chief JCDR and his team for their sincere efforts, dedication, and determination for making JCDR a fast growing journal.
Every one of us: authors, reviewers, editors, and publisher are responsible for enhancing the stature of the journal. I wish for a great success for JCDR."



Thanking you
With sincere regards
Dr. Rajendra Kumar Ghritlaharey, M.S., M. Ch., FAIS
Associate Professor,
Department of Paediatric Surgery, Gandhi Medical College & Associated
Kamla Nehru & Hamidia Hospitals Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462 001 (India)
E-mail: drrajendrak1@rediffmail.com
On May 11,2011




Dr. Shankar P.R.

"On looking back through my Gmail archives after being requested by the journal to write a short editorial about my experiences of publishing with the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (JCDR), I came across an e-mail from Dr. Hemant Jain, Editor, in March 2007, which introduced the new electronic journal. The main features of the journal which were outlined in the e-mail were extensive author support, cash rewards, the peer review process, and other salient features of the journal.
Over a span of over four years, we (I and my colleagues) have published around 25 articles in the journal. In this editorial, I plan to briefly discuss my experiences of publishing with JCDR and the strengths of the journal and to finally address the areas for improvement.
My experiences of publishing with JCDR: Overall, my experiences of publishing withJCDR have been positive. The best point about the journal is that it responds to queries from the author. This may seem to be simple and not too much to ask for, but unfortunately, many journals in the subcontinent and from many developing countries do not respond or they respond with a long delay to the queries from the authors 1. The reasons could be many, including lack of optimal secretarial and other support. Another problem with many journals is the slowness of the review process. Editorial processing and peer review can take anywhere between a year to two years with some journals. Also, some journals do not keep the contributors informed about the progress of the review process. Due to the long review process, the articles can lose their relevance and topicality. A major benefit with JCDR is the timeliness and promptness of its response. In Dr Jain's e-mail which was sent to me in 2007, before the introduction of the Pre-publishing system, he had stated that he had received my submission and that he would get back to me within seven days and he did!
Most of the manuscripts are published within 3 to 4 months of their submission if they are found to be suitable after the review process. JCDR is published bimonthly and the accepted articles were usually published in the next issue. Recently, due to the increased volume of the submissions, the review process has become slower and it ?? Section can take from 4 to 6 months for the articles to be reviewed. The journal has an extensive author support system and it has recently introduced a paid expedited review process. The journal also mentions the average time for processing the manuscript under different submission systems - regular submission and expedited review.
Strengths of the journal: The journal has an online first facility in which the accepted manuscripts may be published on the website before being included in a regular issue of the journal. This cuts down the time between their acceptance and the publication. The journal is indexed in many databases, though not in PubMed. The editorial board should now take steps to index the journal in PubMed. The journal has a system of notifying readers through e-mail when a new issue is released. Also, the articles are available in both the HTML and the PDF formats. I especially like the new and colorful page format of the journal. Also, the access statistics of the articles are available. The prepublication and the manuscript tracking system are also helpful for the authors.
Areas for improvement: In certain cases, I felt that the peer review process of the manuscripts was not up to international standards and that it should be strengthened. Also, the number of manuscripts in an issue is high and it may be difficult for readers to go through all of them. The journal can consider tightening of the peer review process and increasing the quality standards for the acceptance of the manuscripts. I faced occasional problems with the online manuscript submission (Pre-publishing) system, which have to be addressed.
Overall, the publishing process with JCDR has been smooth, quick and relatively hassle free and I can recommend other authors to consider the journal as an outlet for their work."



Dr. P. Ravi Shankar
KIST Medical College, P.O. Box 14142, Kathmandu, Nepal.
E-mail: ravi.dr.shankar@gmail.com
On April 2011
Anuradha

Dear team JCDR, I would like to thank you for the very professional and polite service provided by everyone at JCDR. While i have been in the field of writing and editing for sometime, this has been my first attempt in publishing a scientific paper.Thank you for hand-holding me through the process.


Dr. Anuradha
E-mail: anuradha2nittur@gmail.com
On Jan 2020

Important Notice

Original article / research
Year : 2012 | Month : February | Volume : 6 | Issue : 2 | Page : 38 - 41 Full Version

Knowledge Towards ATOD (Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs): A Study


Published: February 1, 2012 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2012/.2076
Kalpana L., Kavya H.G.

1. Corresponding Author, 2. Department of pharmacology, Sapthagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Hesaraghatta Main road, Bangalore 90, India.

Correspondence Address :
Kalpana L.Professor And Head
Department of Pharmacology
SIMS&RC, No 15, Hesaraghatta Main Road
Bangalore-90, Karnataka, India.
Mob: 9880655158, 9900133966
Email: kalpu154@gmail.com; kavya_jss@yahoo.co.in.

Abstract

Aim: Drug abuse has led to a detrimental impact on the society worldwide. In India, drug use and related problems are of major interest and concern, but research on awareness has received less attention. The present study was conducted to assess the knowledge of students towards ATOD.

Materials and Methods: A cross sectional, observational study was conducted on 300 students in 3 different colleges in Bangalore. The survey module was developed using an anonymous self administered questionnaire.

Results: Out of 293 subjects assessed 159 were males and 134 were females. Males had better knowledge about the risks involved in alcohol and tobacco consumption where as in other drugs females had better knowledge. Students from rural background had less knowledge towards alcohol and tobacco’s harmful effects, in other drugs they had better knowledge.

Conclusions: Knowledge about the risk involved in using ATOD is inadequate and if knowledge is inculcated among youths about the risk involved in drug abuse it will go a long way towards winning the battle against drug abuse.

Keywords

ATOD, Knowledge, Rural, Urban

INTRODUCTION
The use of drugs dates back to thousands of years. Drugs have been used for a variety of reasons in different cultures; for religious purposes, for recreational purposes, for altering the states of consciousness and for obtaining relief from pain and distress (1).

Drugs which are used as medicine are meant to help sick people, but in drug abuse, people use drugs to change their brain function in an unhealthy way.

In India, drug use and related problems are of major interest and concern, but the research on the awareness, interest and concern with respect to drug use has received less attention. The younger generation is being targeted by advertisements which depict the usage of ATOD as attractive and funny. A WHO study report on youth and drugs stated that, young people who first try drugs on an experimental basis often get motivated largely by curiosity and peer pressure (2).

Thus, the present study was done to assess the knowledge of students, who had just entered colleges after their pre-university education in and around Bangalore, towards ATOD (Alcohol, Tobacco and other drugs like cocaine, marijuana, heroin, Club drugs, LSD).

Material and Methods

This was a population based, cross sectional and observational study which was conducted on 300 students who had completed their pre-university education and had entered the graduation course in 3 different colleges in and around Bangalore. Students of both sexes of the age group of 17 to 21 years from city/town/village backgrounds were included. The survey module was developed by using an anonymous, self administered questionnaire which was adopted from an evaluation instrument which was created by CSR (3).

The proforma covered demographic variables such as the student’s age, gender, education, socio-economic status (based on the percapita income of the parents) and region (city, town, village) and the student’s knowledge about ATOD (alcohol , tobacco and other drugs like cocaine, marijuana, cocaine, heroin ,club drugs, LSD).

The student’s knowledge about ATOD was evaluated by checking as to what they thought about people who risked themselves physically or mentally by smoking one or more packs of cigarettes, chewing tobacco leaves, drinking alcoholic beverages, using marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs like LSD and club drugs regularly.

All the participants were explained the purpose of the study and they were ensured strict confidentiality. An informed consent was taken. The ethical principles were adhered to.

Adequate time was given to each respondent for filling the questionnaire. The queries were clarified when they were asked by the students. The participants were given the choice of not participating in the study if they didn’t want to. A total of 293 valid questionnaires were received, assimilated, entered into Microsoft spread sheets and analyzed to derive at the results. The P value was calculated.

Results

(Table/Fig 1) provides the knowledge of the participants towards ATOD. Out of 293 subjects who were assessed, 159 were males and 134 were females. 43.4% males and 69.4% females were unaware of the negative effects of alcohol consumption. 17.6% males and 3.7% females were of the opinion that alcohol consumption involved great risk. The ‘p’-value was found to be less than 0.001.

58.5% males and 60.4% females were of the opinion that smoking or chewing tobacco did not have any risk. 11.9% males and 6% females were of the opinion that tobacco consumption carried great risk. The ‘p’-value was found to be 0.039.

64.2% males and 59.7% females were of the opinion that drugs other than alcohol or tobacco did not have any risks which were related to their use. 9.4% males and 3.7% females were of the opinion that the use of other drugs carried great risk. The ‘p’-value was found to be less than 0.001.

(Table/Fig 2) depicts the % knowledge of the participants about ATOD in the study population. 55.3% were of the opinion that alcohol consumption didn’t carry any risk and only 11.3% were of the opinion that it had great risk. 59.4% were unaware of the risks which were involved with tobacco consumption and 9.2% were of the opinion that it carried great risk. 62.1% had less knowledge about the risks which were involved with other drugs and 6.8% were fully aware of the great risks which were related to them.

(Table/Fig 3) (Table/Fig 4)depicts the percent knowledge by location in the study population. In 64.4% from the rural background were of the opinion that alcohol consumption had no risk and 13.3% were aware of its risks. 60.7% from the town and 50% from the city were of the opinion that alcohol consumption did not have any risk and 9.5% from the town and 11.6% from the city were aware of the great risks which were involved with alcohol intake. The ‘p’- value was found to be 0.010. 71.1% from the rural background, 58.3% from the town and 56.7% from the city had no idea about the risks which were related to tobacco consumption, whereas 8.9% from the village, 10.7% from the town and 8.5% from the city were of the opinion that tobacco consumption led to great risk. The ‘p’-value was found to be 0.665. 33.3% from the rural background, 71.4% from the town and 65.2% from the city were of the opinion that the consumption of other drugs did not have any risk, contradicting the opinions of 4.4% from the village, 16.7% from the town and 2.4% from the city who thought that the usage of these drugs would harm them. The ‘p’-value was found to be <0.001.

Discussion

Drug abuse is defined as any use of drugs that causes physical, psychological, legal or social harm to the individual user or to others who are affected by the drug user’s behaviour. People have experienced the positive consequences of ATOD. They have also experienced the negative consequences of ATOD, which the definition of drug abuse has captured (4). Drug abuse is a complex phenomenon which has various social, cultural, biological, geographical, historical and economic aspects. The disintegration of the old joint family system, the absence of parental care in modern families where both the parents are working and the decline of old religious and moral values, have led to a rise in the number of drug addicts who have taken to drugs to escape the hard realities of life. This has also led to an increase in the crime rate. The drug addicts resort to crime to pay for their drugs. The early initiation of substance use is usually associated with a poor prognosis and a lifelong pattern of deceit and irresponsible behaviour (5).

With most of the drug users being in the productive age group of 18 to 35 years, the loss in terms of human potential is incalculable. Adolescent drug abuse is one of the major concerns in young people’s behaviour. Increase in the incidences of HIV, hepatitis B and C and tuberculosis due to drug addiction adds to the reservoir of infection in the community, burdening the health system further. The consequences of drug abuse include domestic violence and financial burden. At the national level, drug abuse is intrinsically linked with racketeering, conspiracy, corruption, illegal money transfers, terrorism and violence, threatening the very stability of the governments (5). The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking iscelebrated on June 26th every year. It is an exercise which has been undertaken by the world community to sensitize the people in general and the youth in particular, to the menace of drugs. About 190 million people all over the world consume one drug or the other. Drug addiction causes human distress and it has spawned crime and violence worldwide. Today, there is no part of the world that is free from the curse of drug trafficking and drug addiction. India too has been caught in this vicious circle of drug abuse, and the numbers of the drug addicts are increasing day by day (5).

A Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was passed in 1985 and it was amended in 1989. In 1999–2000, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, along with the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime, undertook for the first time, a major national study on the extent, patterns and the trends of substance abuse in the country, a major component of which was a national household survey (6). In a recent survey which was conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and the Industry of India revealed that a majority of the pub customers were in the age group 20-45 years and that they spent an average of 500 to 1000 rupees per person (7). 73.5% of the total youth of Punjab alone is addicted to drugs (8).

Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs which include club drugs, marijuana, cocaine, and heroin are the most commonly abused drugs. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the popularity of a group of substances which were collectively referred to as “club drugs”, has been steadily growing. This term describes the drugs which are used by young adults at all night dance parties such as “raves” and “trances” and at dance clubs and dance bars. These drugs can cause serious health problems and in some cases, even death. Some of the club drugs are Methylepedoxymethamphetamine [street name is Ecstasy, Adam lover’s Speed], Gamma hydroxybutyrate [Liquid Ecstasy], Ketamine [Special K, Vitamin K], Flunitrazepam [Forget -Me Pill], Methamphetamine [Speed, Ice, Chalk] and Lysergic aciddiethylamide [Boomers, Purple Haze] (9).

The 2009/10 estimate of England showed that 40.7% of young adults who were aged 16-24 years used illicit drugs. One in five young people had used one or more illicit drugs in the previous year (20.0%) and around one in nine had used drugs in the previous month (11.6%). In the same study, it was found that less than 10% of the pupils thought that it was ‘OK’ to try illicit drugs once a week (10). Studies which were conducted in different parts, showed that the knowledge regarding the harmful effects of substances was high, particularly about illicit ones such as tobacco, alcohol and other drugs (11),(12),(13),(14),(15),(16). But the present study revealed that the study population had less knowledge about ATOD.

A low prevalence rate of tobacco use was observed in one study (13), whereas in few other studies, the prevalence rates were higher (17). In studies which were conducted by other authors (18),(19),(20), males were found to be more likely than females to use all types of tobacco products. Our study revealed that females had less knowledge about the risks which were involved with respect to smoking and drinking, while they had better knowledge about the risks which were involved with other drugs. A survey on the knowledge, attitude and opinion on substance use revealed that the knowledge on this was more among the rural students (17), but contradictory results were found in a study which was conducted in Kenya (21). In our study, students from the rural background were found to have less knowledge towards alcohol and tobacco but better knowledge about other drugs and this finding was comparable to the findings of the studies which were done by other authors (22).

Drug abuse prevention should be made a high priority and the efforts on drug abuse prevention must be an important component of any comprehensive approach which has been undertaken to treat substance abuse. Adolescents and young adults are the more visible groups who are at risk for substance abuse. Efforts should be made to improve their knowledge about ATOD by providing adequate education to them. Shaping the attitude of the youth and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle is essential. Thus, the primary prevention of drug abuse has a key role, which pertains to the avoidance of substance abuse before it has a chance to occur (23).

Conclusion

To summarize, the current study suggests that the knowledge about ATOD is inadequate and if the knowledge about the risks which are involved in drug abuse is inculcated among youths, it will go a long way towards winning the battle against drug use. Efforts which are being made to control this problem by arranging substance use prevention programs should not be limited only to the youth, but it should also target their parents and other family members.

However in this study, the sample size was small and it was conducted in a specified geographic area. So it has described the knowledge of only a specified population group. Thus, it requires an epidemiological survey to test the generalization of this conclusion.

QUESTIONNAIRE**
We are interested in what you know about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs and how you feel about using ATOD. Your answers to these questions will be kept confidential. Do not reveal youridentity. Please circle the number or fill out the blank space that most closely corresponds to your answer. You have to circle only one for each item or question asked. Thank you for your participation.

1. Back ground information (a) Age - 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 years– please circle you age (b) Sex - Male / Female (c) Education - (d) Socio economic status - (Income of parents per year) (e) Place - City / Town / Village 2. Knowledge about the effects of Alcohol, Tobacco and other drugs How much do you think people risk harming themselves physically or mentall if they

**Questionnaire adopted from Evaluation instrument by CSR3.

References

1.
Maisto SA, Galizio M, Connors GJ. Drug use yesterday and today. Drug use and abuse. 4th edition. Thomson learning, inc, USA , 2004; 23.
2.
WHO Tech Rep Series. Youth and drugs.1969;409:7- 27.
3.
Wilson R, Kolander C. Selected evaluation instrument. Drug abuse prevention. 2nd edition. Jones and Bort let, USA, 200;309.
4.
Rinaldi RC, Steindler EM, Wilboard BB, Goodwin D. Classification and Standardization of substance abuse terminology. Journal of the American Medical Association. 1988;259:555-57.
5.
Drug abuse in India: National portal content management. Reviewed on; 12.02.2010. Available from http://www.azadindia.org/social issues/ DrugAbuseinIndia. html.
6.
Narcotic drugs and psychotropic substance Act 1985.Available from http://www.netlawman.co..in /narcoticsdrugspsychotropicsubstance act1985. php.
7.
Dev A. Show age proof to enter pubs. The Times of India. 2011; Nov 4, Times City: 4.
8.
Mishra SS. Will drugs suck the life out of India? Mouth piece for the youth 23rd March 2011. Available from www.youthkiawaaz. com/2011/08/ Drug abuse in India growing.
9.
Maisto SA, Galizio M, Connors GJ. Drug use yesterday and today. Drug use and abuse. 4th edition. Thomson learning, inc, USA , 2004;28.
10.
The NHS information centre, Lifestyle statistics. 27 jan 2011 available at www.ic.nhs.uk.
11.
Sinha DN, Gupta PC. Pednekar M.Tobacco use among students in Bihar (India). Indian J Public Health. 2004;48:11-17.
12.
Singh V, Gupta R. Prevalence of tobacco use and awareness of risks among school children in Jaipur. J Assoc Physicians India. 2006;54:609- 12.
13.
Ljubotina D, Galic J, Jukic V. Prevalence and risk factors of substance use among urban adolescents: questionnaire study. Croat Med J 2004;45:88-98.
14.
Sinha DN, Gupta PC, Pednekar MS. Tobacco use among students in the eight Northeastern states of India. Indian J Cancer. 2003;40: 43-59.
15.
Gajalakshmi V, Asma S, Warren CW. Tobacco survey among youth in South India. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2004;5:27-38.
16.
Wolska A, Latak D. Smoking tobacco among young people in grammarschool, secondaryschool and highschool and knowledge of relating wholesome threats. Przegl Lek. 2005;62:110-11.
17.
Dechenla Tsering, Ranabir Pal, and Aparajita Dasgupta. Substance use among adolescent high school students in India: A survey of knowledge, attitude, and opinion. Journal of Pharmacy and Bioallied Sciences. 2010;2(2): 137-140.
18.
Madu SN, Matla MQ. Illicit drug use, cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking behaviour among a sample of high school adolescents in the Pietersburg area of the Northern Province, South Africa. J Adolesc 2003;26:121- 36.
19.
Chen KT, Chen CJ, FagotCampagna A, Narayan KM. Tobacco, betel quid, alcohol, and illicit drug use among 13 to 35 year olds in ILan, rural Taiwan: prevalence and risk factors. Am J Public Health. 2001;91:11304.
20.
Sutherland I, Willner P. Patterns of alcohol, cigarette and illicit drug use in English adolescents. Addiction.1998;93:119-208.
21.
Ogwell AE, Astrom AN, Haugejorden O. Sociodemographic factors of pupils who use tobacco in randomlyselected primary schools in Nairobi province, Kenya. East Afr Med J. 2003;80:235-41
22.
Barman Rajdip, Singh Daljit,Sharma Kuldip C, Sidhu Balwant Singh. Comparative Evaluation of Knowledge, Attitude and Prevalence of Substance Abuse in Urban and Rural School Going Children: A Crosssectional Study. Journal of Research in Medical Education & Ethics. 2011;1(1):43- 49.
23.
Maisto SA, Galizio M, Connors GJ. Prevention of substance abuse. Drug use and abuse. 4th edition. Thomson learning, inc, USA. 2004;392- 93.

DOI and Others

ID: JCDR/2012/3599:1867.2

Financial OR OTHER COMPETING INTERESTS:
None.

Date of Submission: Nov 11, 2011
Date of Peer Review: Dec 22, 2011
Date of Acceptance: Jan 05, 2012
Date of Publishing: Feb 15, 2012

JCDR is now Monthly and more widely Indexed .
  • Emerging Sources Citation Index (Web of Science, thomsonreuters)
  • Index Copernicus ICV 2017: 134.54
  • Academic Search Complete Database
  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
  • Embase
  • EBSCOhost
  • Google Scholar
  • HINARI Access to Research in Health Programme
  • Indian Science Abstracts (ISA)
  • Journal seek Database
  • Google
  • Popline (reproductive health literature)
  • www.omnimedicalsearch.com