Also Included In: Men's Health; Smoking / Quit Smoking
Article Date: 31 Jul 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Most young Swiss cannabis smokers are aware of the health risks
91 percent of on average 20-year-old Swiss men drink alcohol, almost half of whom drink six beverages or more in a row and are thus at-risk consumers. 44 percent of Swiss men smoke tobacco, the majority of whom are at-risk consumers - they smoke at least once a day. 36 percent of young adults smoke cannabis, whereby over half are at-risk consumers, using the drug at least twice a week. Researchers from the University of Zurich's Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine investigated whether these young Swiss men read up on addictive substances such as alcohol, tobacco, cannabis or other drugs and are aware and understand the risks of their consumption by conducting a survey of 12,000 men under a national cohort study as they were recruited for national service.
Those who consume more likely to seek information
16 percent of the young Swiss men surveyed had used electronic media in the last 12 months to actively find out more about addictive substances. 20 percent of at-risk consumers of alcohol or tobacco did so, along with 38 percent of at-risk consumers of cannabis. Moreover, at-risk consumers of alcohol or tobacco seek information two and a half times more frequently than abstainers. Cannabis-consumers research addictive substances four times more frequently and the at-risk consumers among them even five times more frequently than those who don't smoke cannabis. "The search for information greatly depends on the substance consumed. Generally, consumers of addictive substances are more likely to seek information on addictive substances compared to abstainers," explains Meichun Mohler-Kuo, a lecturer at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine.
Over 70 percent of the men surveyed who consume addictive substances and especially the at-risk consumers rate their knowledge of the health consequences of alcohol, tobacco or cannabis consumption as very good, thereby reporting their knowledge as better than abstainers in this respect. Men from the Suisse romande (French-speaking Switzerland) and high school graduates rate their knowledge of the health risks of excessive consumption as slightly better than German-speaking Swiss and men with a lower level of education.
Information as prevention comes up short
Prevention campaigns that are designed to open young people's eyes to the risks of addictive substances and deter them are normally based on providing information. "Information alone, however, is insufficient as a preventive measure. It needs differentiated approaches for informed consumers," says Mohler-Kuo. Consequently, media campaigns for the prevention of substance abuse should be viewed with a critical eye. "It is important to examine and develop preventive measures that take the competence of well-informed young people and young adults into account."
Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.Visit our alcohol / addiction / illegal drugs section for the latest news on this subject.
Dermota P, Wang J, Dey M, Gmel G, Studer J, Mohler-Kuo M. Health literacy and substance use in young Swiss men. International Journal of Public Health. July 11, 2013. Doi 10.1007/s00038-013-0487-9
The current survey is part of the national cohort study C-SURF, which is being conducted by the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine and Vaudois University Hospital. The aim of the C-SURF study is to identify the use of various addictive substances by young men and track it on a long-term basis.
Abstract
Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to describe health literacy and its association with substance use among young men.
Methods: The present study was part of the Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors that included 11,930 Swiss males participating in initial screening from August 2010 to July 2011. Self-completed questionnaires covered use of three substances and three components of health literacy.
Results: Roughly 22 % reported having searched the Internet for health information and 16 % for information on substances over the past 12 months. At-risk and not at-risk users of alcohol (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.50 and 1.46), tobacco (AOR = 2.51 and 1.79) and cannabis (AOR = 4.86 and 3.53) searched for information about substances significantly more often via the Internet than abstainers. Furthermore, at-risk users reported better knowledge of risks associated with substance use and a marginally better ability to understand health information than abstainers.
Conclusions: Substance users appear to be more informed and knowledgeable about the risks of substance use than non-users. Consequently, interventions that focus only on information provision may be of limited benefit for preventing substance use.
University of Zurich
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31 Jul. 2013.
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'Most young Swiss cannabis smokers are aware of the health risks'
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