Alger, Hotel Madar, Cercle National De L'armée
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Co-operation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Drugs Conference on the role of research in drug policy development: Interpretation, communication and use of results Alger, Hotel Madar, Cercle National de l’Armée Beni Messous, Algiers 3 - 4 December 2006 FIRST RESULTS OF THE MedSPAD ALGERIA SURVEY Survey conducted by Soumaya Mansouri-Zeghnoun in co-operation with the Pompidou Group and the French Observatory of Drugs and Drug Addictions Aim of the survey The MedSPAD Algéria survey was aimed at gauging the level of use of alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs among 15 and 16-year-old students. With the agreement of the Ministry of Education, this schools survey was conducted in co-operation with the Pompidou Group as part of the MedSPAD Project and in co-operation with the French Observatory of Drugs and Drug Addictions. It used a questionnaire based on the ESPAD model 1 , adapted to Algerian society. The aim of MedSPAD is to provide extra data to complement the existing health and criminal law statistics, and thus help formulate public health policies and devise prevention and treatment programmes for the users of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs. METHODOLOGY The main MedSPAD Algeria survey was carried out in the capital, Algiers, over 32 days from 4/1/2005 to 6/2/2005. There were three levels of sampling, geared to obtaining a final sample fully representative of young people at school. The first step was to choose the daïras (administrative divisions with sub-prefectures depending on a wilaya [county]). The nine daïras selected were Bab el Oued, Sidi M’hamed, Kaliptus, Kouba, Bourouba, Bordj el Kiffan, Hussein Dey, Gue de Constantine and Ben Aknoun. Next, the 36 schools were selected, and lastly, a total of 108 classes from these schools. However, consideration had to be given to local realities and the difficulty of obtaining administrative data on school populations. This is why the choice of daïras was not completely probabilistic. • Questionnaire The questionnaire was anonymous and self-administered, with 56 closed multiple-choice questions to be answered in a classroom under the supervision of a guidance counsellor. • Sampling The daïras were chosen on the basis of the number of schools in their territory. We selected the six daïras comprising the most schools. The 36 schools were chosen as follows: separate lists were drawn up of secondary and lower secondary schools: the first 36 on the list were then selected, with reference to the official ministry list of schools. We selected the ninth year of schooling and the 1st year of lycée (higher secondary) in order to cover the 15 and 16 year age bracket. For the choice of classes, we selected 3 classes from each school, embracing an average of 90 students, by drawing lots. In the end the sample comprised a total of 3240 students. After the file cleanup, rooting out students who had owned up to dishonesty and eliminating questionnaires which had been inputted incorrectly, the final sample totalled 3180 students. • Organisation of the survey in schools The co-ordinator presented the questionnaires to each school, providing instructions to the guidance counsellors responsible for handing over the questionnaires during interviews aimed at explaining how to use the document. She also explained the procedures for supervising the survey and filling in the class reports. The Ministry of Education informed the head teachers of the schools of the co-ordinator’s arrival. The guidance counsellors took responsibility for distributing and collecting the questionnaires. Lastly, the co-ordinator herself retrieved the questionnaires from the school. • Confidentiality and anonymity Survey confidentiality and anonymity were guaranteed by means of the following precautions: The text of the second page of the questionnaire was geared to reassuring the students. The guidance counsellors followed the co-ordinator’s instructions and made sure that a climate of trust was established in the classrooms. The students did not have to write their names on the questionnaire. The students placed their own completed questionnaires in envelops available at the back of the classrooms. All in all, the questionnaires were handed over without any particular incidents or reactions. The discussions conducted by the counsellors after the handover aroused a great deal of interest in the students, who requested regular organisation of similar debates in their schools. 1 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (conducted by independent researchers under the direction of the Swedish research institute “CAN”, with the support of the Pompidou Group). 2 The sample Répartition de l'échantillon par âge The students surveyed were between the ages of 13 and 22. With 1200 1068 an eye to comparability with ESPAD-Europe and UNODC 1000 (ARQ) the presentation of prevalences will concern a total of 826 1894 15- and 16-year- olds (60% of the population studied). 800 618 However, some of the analyses also took in students aged from 14 600 to 17. 410 400 200 105 110 12 1 0 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 22 The sample comprises more girls than boys, except in the 17 age Répartition de l'échantillon par sexe group. The reason for this imbalance was that eight of the participating schools were girls’ schools. However, the disciplinary regulations on exclusion from some schools might also have affected this gender ratio. filles 1303 Apportionment by gender of age cohorts in the sample garçons 1874 AgeGirls Boys Total 14 ans 394 (64%) 224 (36%) 618 15 ans 675 (63%) 393 (37%) 1068 16 ans 481 (58%) 345 (42%) 826 17 ans 196 (48%) 213 (52%) 409 Total1746 (60%) 1175 (40%) 2921 Study of prevalences Prévalence du tabac Tobacco 50 s garçons 40.5% of the boys interviewed admit to having smoked tobacco at an some time in their lives, a much higher percentage than that of 40 40.5 filles girls (10.2%). 5-16 1 30 26.3 de s 22.6 The two graphs show downward trends, indicating that a high 20 percentage of tobacco users smoke on an experimental basis. une je 10.2 s 10 4.7 de 3.2 % 0 durant derniers derniers la vie 12 mois 30 jours Alcohol Prévalence de l'alcool Boys consume much more alcohol than girls. 50 s garçons an As in the case of tobacco, the two downward graphs would 6 40 filles -1 suggest that many users drink on an experimental basis. 15 e 30 d Consumption of alcohol during the young person’s lifetime would es 20 appear much lower than that of tobacco, and this applies to both un 13,6 je 7,5 genders: there is apparently much less use of alcohol than of s 10 6,1 de 3,0 1,1 0,9 tobacco among the school population. % 0 durant derniers derniers la vie 12 mois 30 jours 3 Cannabis Prévalence du cannabis As in the case of tobacco and alcohol, the graphs for cannabis use s 50 at any stage in life and over the past year and month show a an garçons downward trend, suggesting that users take the drug on an 16 40 filles 5- experimental rather than a regular basis. 1 30 17.0% of the boys surveyed state that they have used cannabis at de 20 17.0 some point, 12.7% say they have done so in the past 12 months, unes 12.7 and 9.5% during the previous 30 days. These figures exceed those je 10 9.5 recorded for alcohol, pointing to a level of cannabis use exceeding s 1.2 de 0 0.6 0.6 that of alcohol in the Algiers school population. % durant derniers derniers la vie 12 mois 30 jours Psychotropic drugs Prévalence des psychotropes Once again, the use of psychotropic drugs is mainly experimental 50 garçons and seldom regular. filles As in the case of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis, boys have the 6 ans 40 -1 higher level of use. This contrasts with the results of the ESPAD 15 30 survey in Europe, which pointed to female over-use of e d psychotropic drugs. es 20 14,9 However, it should be noted that psychotropic drugs are by far the eun commonest psychoactive substances used by girls in Algiers. j 9,2 10 6,9 es 12,6 7,2 5,7 % d 0 durant derniers derniers la vie 12 mois 30 jours Conclusions on the prevalences We can draw the following conclusions on the use of psychoactive substances among the 15 to 16-year-olds interviewed: • the downward trends in the graphs on the four substances surveyed reflects the fact that the young people interviewed are experimental users, which is the expected result given the age bracket under investigation; • the highest percentages invariably relate to boys, in line with many national and international surveys (ESPAD) of the use of psychoactive substances; • preferences concerning psychoactive substance use vary according to gender; among boys, for instance, there is a clear preference for: tobacco (40.5%), followed by cannabis (17%), psychotropic drugs (14.9%), and lastly alcohol (13-6%); among girls, on the other hand, psychotropic drugs come first (12.6%), followed by tobacco (10.2%), then alcohol (3.0%) and finally cannabis (1.2%). These preferences show that alcohol use comes last for boys and and last but one for girls. We might posit that religion has an influence on the use of alcohol among young people. The fact that psychotropic drugs are in first place among girls may suggest that social acceptance and the ease with which such drugs can be obtained (a prescription issued by an obliging doctor) foster this consumption preference among girls.