Table 3.
Predictors of illicit drug/s use among university students in the United Kingdom (Multifactorial logistic regression analysis)
| Variable | Illicit Drug/s Use | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes, Regularly (n = 168) | Yes, a few times (n = 886) | Never (n = 2430) | |||||||
| OR | P | 95% CI | OR | P | 95% CI | OR | P | 95% CI | |
| Sex (Female) | |||||||||
| Male | 4.62 | <0.001 | 2.80-7.61 | 1.86 | <0.001 | 1.46-2.38 | 0.48 | <0.001 | 0.38-0.60 |
| Age (18-20) years | |||||||||
| 21-29 | 1.65 | 0.043 | 1.02-2.68 | 1.90 | 0.000 | 1.53-2.37 | 0.54 | 0.00 | 0.43-0.66 |
| > 30 | 1.02 | 0.946 | 0.54-1.94 | 1.09 | 0.564 | 0.82-1.46 | 0.92 | 0.56 | 0.70-1.21 |
| Self rated general health (Poor/fair) | |||||||||
| Good/very good/excellent | 0.57 | 0.059 | 0.32-1.02 | 0.94 | 0.701 | 0.68-1.30 | 1.17 | 0.326 | 0.86-1.58 |
| Health awareness (Not at all/not much) | |||||||||
| To some extent/very much | 0.84 | 0.516 | 0.49-1.43 | 0.71 | 0.008 | 0.55-0.92 | 1.39 | 0.007 | 1.09-1.78 |
| Depressive symptoms (< 5th Quintile) | |||||||||
| High (≥ 5th Quintile) | 1.61 | 0.098 | 0.92-2.81 | 0.98 | 0.879 | 0.74-1.29 | 0.93 | 0.574 | 0.72-1.20 |
| Perceived stress (Low < median) | |||||||||
| High (≥ median) | 1.15 | 0.585 | 0.70-1.86 | 0.79 | 0.032 | 0.64-0.98 | 1.23 | 0.052 | 1.00-1.51 |
| Smoking (Never/occasional) | |||||||||
| Daily | 11.73 | 0.000 | 7.27-18.92 | 2.48 | 0.000 | 1.91-3.22 | 0.32 | 0.000 | 0.26-0.41 |
| Heavy episodic drinking in last 2 weeks (< 1 time) | |||||||||
| ≥ 1 time | 1.83 | 0.021 | 1.10-3.07 | 2.11 | 0.000 | 1.67-2.67 | 0.49 | 0.000 | 0.39-0.61 |
| CAGE score (< 3 positive responses) | |||||||||
| ≥ 3 positive (possible alcohol dependence) | 1.94 | 0.049 | 1.00-3.73 | 2.20 | 0.000 | 1.60-3.03 | 0.46 | 0.000 | 0.34-0.63 |
| Importance of religion in life (Strongly or somewhat agree/neither agree nor disagree) | |||||||||
| Strongly disagree/somewhat disagree | 1.16 | 0.499 | 0.75-1.80 | 1.26 | 0.024 | 1.03-1.54 | 0.80 | 0.022 | 0.66-0.97 |
| Financial burden/s (Not at all/quite strongly) | |||||||||
| Strongly/very strongly | 1.21 | 0.416 | 0.76-1.92 | 1.35 | 0.005 | 1.10-1.67 | 0.74 | 0.004 | 0.61-0.91 |
| Accommodation during semester (Not with parents) | |||||||||
| With parents | 0.46 | 0.011 | 0.26-0.84 | 0.62 | 0.000 | 0.49-0.79 | 1.67 | 0.000 | 1.33-2.10 |
| Academic performance compared to peers (Much worse/worse/same) | |||||||||
| Better/much better | 1.88 | 0.021 | 1.10-3.21 | 1.18 | 0.225 | 0.90-1.54 | 0.79 | 0.073 | 0.62-1.02 |
OR = odds ratio; Bolded cells indicate statistically significant odds ratio; OR adjusted for all other variables in the table and also for university.