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Vol.5 , No. 3, Publication Date: Aug. 9, 2018, Page: 69-77
: A Cross-Sectional Study on Their Use, Accessibility and Public Awareness, and Their Associated Harms, in an East Midlands (UK) Local Authority&description=Despite the increase in NPS presence in drug market, the extent of their use and related harms is not fully understood. Our cross-sectional study (n=204) indicated that 85.8% of respondents were aware of NPS, 33.8% knew NPS users, and 13.3% knew more than five users. 30.4% had been offered NPS by someone they knew, 17% by a stranger; 9.8% accepted and used it, and 40% said accessing NPS was easy and 35.8% very easy. The study showed rho values of 0.3 between age and knowing of NPS (P < 0.001); 0.47 between age and knowing NPS users (P < 0.001); 0.28 between age and number of NPS users known (P < 0.001); 0.14 between age and the number of times they accepted and consumed NPS (P > 0.040); 0.042 between age and being offered NPS by someone known to them (P ≥ 0.548); 0.11 between age and being offered NPS by strangers (P > 0.097); and 0.08 between age and perceived ease of access to NPS (P > 0.253). We concluded that the positive correlation between age and the number of times users accepted and consumed NPS, warrants public health concern. Given the level of exposure to the peers who consume NPS, it is possible there were more NPS users amongst this study respondents that than it directly detected. We recognise that our small sample size limited generalisability of these findings, and propose repeating the research using larger samples to make the results more widely applicable.&picture=http://www.aascit.org/aascit/decorators/img/journal/972.jpg)
| [1] | Mabhala Mzwandile, Department of Public Health and Wellbeing, University of Chester, Riverside Campus, Chester, CH1 1SF, United Kingdom. |
| [2] | Yohannes Asmait, Department of Surgery, Mount Sinai, New York, USA. |
Despite the increase in NPS presence in drug market, the extent of their use and related harms is not fully understood. Our cross-sectional study (n=204) indicated that 85.8% of respondents were aware of NPS, 33.8% knew NPS users, and 13.3% knew more than five users. 30.4% had been offered NPS by someone they knew, 17% by a stranger; 9.8% accepted and used it, and 40% said accessing NPS was easy and 35.8% very easy. The study showed rho values of 0.3 between age and knowing of NPS (P < 0.001); 0.47 between age and knowing NPS users (P < 0.001); 0.28 between age and number of NPS users known (P < 0.001); 0.14 between age and the number of times they accepted and consumed NPS (P > 0.040); 0.042 between age and being offered NPS by someone known to them (P ≥ 0.548); 0.11 between age and being offered NPS by strangers (P > 0.097); and 0.08 between age and perceived ease of access to NPS (P > 0.253). We concluded that the positive correlation between age and the number of times users accepted and consumed NPS, warrants public health concern. Given the level of exposure to the peers who consume NPS, it is possible there were more NPS users amongst this study respondents that than it directly detected. We recognise that our small sample size limited generalisability of these findings, and propose repeating the research using larger samples to make the results more widely applicable.
Keywords
Psychoactive Substance, Addiction, Accessibility, Health and Social Harms
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