The need to study Adolescent boys exclusively rather than just studying adolescents in general is because adolescent boys are very different than adolescent girls in the terms of physical, mental, social, cognitive and personal development [1]. The two genders are so different from each other that studies have even confirmed that the brains of the two genders grow differently during adolescence [2]. Adolescent boys are believed to display more overall risky health behaviour. Health hindering behaviours such as Inadequate consumption of nutritious food, Road risk behaviour, substance use, smoking and Alcohol consumption are seen more in Adolescent boys than Adolescent girls [3]. 

The lives of millions of Adolescents are marred by poverty, inadequate education and work opportunities, exploitation, war, civil unrest, ethnic and gender discrimination. Rapid urbanisation, telecommunication, travel and migration bring both new possibilities and new risks to young people. These conditions may directly jeopardise the health of the individuals. Potentially harmful subjects – tobacco, alcohol and other drugs are now more readily available to adolescents and threaten their health in short and long term.

The problems that Muslim adolescents face are different from their counterparts from other religions. In a developing country like India, in addition to the problems faced by the adolescents in the developed world [4], the Muslim adolescents in our country face other problems such as economic constraints, socio-cultural, political [5], educational and vocational backwardness [6] and educational [7] among many others. In the hindsight of economic hardships, these problems increase multi fold to force the Muslim adolescents to take up jobs at an early age and give up education contrary to their wish [8]. This study looks to understand the distribution of addictions among the socioeconomically challenged Muslim population of Kalaburagi, Karnataka to understand the differences in the factors leading to increased use of prohibited/ harmful substances.

This cross-sectional study was carried out in the urban field practice area of Department of Community Medicine, KBNIMS, Kalaburagi, Karnataka. A house-to-house survey was carried out. Households were included in the study by using A Systematic Random Sampling technique [9] where every 5th house was selected (By obtaining the ratio of the total population to the sample size desired). The study was carried out on health status of 260 Muslim adolescent boys who were selected by employing simple random sampling from the entire target population on the basis of the percentage of adolescents in the country i.e., 20.9% [10]. A pre-designed, pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect the information. The questionnaire consisted of queries regarding the use of harmful and prohibited substances. Comfort was ensured by establishing confidence and liaison through repeated encounters and discussions with all participants to reduce attrition. The subjects were interviewed after obtaining informed consent. The responses were subsequently coded, quantified, and systematically analyzed. All ethical boundaries were strictly maintained, and prior ethical clearance for the study was duly obtained from the concerned authority.

The Phases in Adolescence were Classified as Follows

Early Adolescence (10-13 Years)

Characterised by a spurt of growth and development of sexual maturation. This is the phase in which the Young People start to think in an abstract way.

Middle Adolescence (14-16 Years)

The physical changes are completed as the individual develops a sense of identity. The thinking becomes more reflective.

Late Adolescence (17-19 Years)

The Body takes its adult form, while the individual has a distinct identity and have more settled and ideas.

The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. To test the significance of the study, we applied Chi-Square test and ‘T’ test at 5% level of significance (p<0.05).

In this study it was found that Early Adolescents had least frequency of Habits and Addictions (13.86%) followed by Middle (32.39%) and Late Adolescents (36.36%). Late Adolescents had more Habits and Addictions than any

other Age Group at 46.38% while among the Early Adolescents only 20.29% had one or the other Habits or Addiction (Table 1). 

Table 1: Age Wise Distribution of Habits or Addictions

Comparison of the Addictions in the study community and the educational status showed that 43.75% of the Adolescents who were pursuing their Graduation had Habits and Addictions followed by the Individuals in Pre-University College (40.0%) and the ones who had quit during Primary Schooling (38.88%). Individuals who were in Middle School or who had quit when in Middle School were the ones with the least prevalence of Habits and Addictions (19.56%) (Figure 1).

The chi-square statistic is 17.6747. The p-value is 0.001428. The result is significant at p<0.05 (Table 2).

Table 2: Distribution of Addictions among Adolescents According to Kuppuswamy’s Socio-Economic Status

On comparison of the Socioeconomic status and the Addictions in the study community, it was revealed that all the individuals from the Upper Class had one or the other Habit or Addiction (100%), followed by Upper Middle Class (57.14%), Lower Middle Class (41.93%) and Lower Class (40.0%). The group that had the least number of people habituated or addicted to habits causing ill health was the Upper Lower Group (21.0%). This comparison was found to be Statistically Significant (Table 2).

The chi-square statistic is 2.3532. The p-value is 0.671106. The result is not significant at p<0.05.

The comparison between the Addictions of the Adolescents and the Marital status of the Parents showed that among the children of the First Marriage, 26.10% were Addicted and 73.89% were not addicted, thereby giving the least prevalence of Addictions when compared to the Marital status of the parents. Among the children of Widowers, 100% of the Adolescents were not addicted to substances that initiate ill-health. 64.70% of the children from Divorcees were not addicted while 35.29% were addicted, this statistic was the highest prevalence of Addictions with respect to the Marital status of the parents in the study group. Among the children of Widows, 75% were not addicted and 25.0% were habituated to substances that caused ill Health. Among the individuals whose parents had remarried, 66.66% were not addicted or habituated while 33.33% were (Table 3). 

Table 3: Distribution of Addictions among Adolescents according to the Parents’ Marital Status

On comparison of the Addictions among the Adolescents and their occupational status it was found that Unskilled Workers had the highest prevalence of Addictions (41.93%) while Farmers had the Least prevalence of Addictions (0%) followed by Semi Skilled Workers (26.92%). Among the students, 22.94% were Addicted or Habituated. Students were also the group to have the highest number of people who were not addicted to anything (77.05%) followed by Semi skilled workers (73.07%) and Unemployed individuals (71.42%) (Table 4).

Table 4: Distribution of Addictions among Adolescents according to their Occupational Status

Figure 1: Prevalence of Addictions in the Study Subjects According to Their Educational Status

In this study it was found that Early Adolescents had least frequency of Habits and Addictions (13.86%) followed by Middle (32.39%) and Late Adolescents (36.36%). Late Adolescents had more Habits and Addictions than any other Age Group at 46.38% while among the Early Adolescents only 20.29% had one or the other Habits or Addiction. This finding of our study suggests that there is a late initiation of the adolescents in to getting habituated or addicted to substances that have an adverse effect on the health status. This finding of our study was substantiated by a study conducted among the students of Aligarh Muslim University which said that the average age of initiation was 14 Years [11]. On comparison of the Socioeconomic status and the Addictions in the study community, it was revealed that all the individuals from the Upper Class had one or the other Habit or Addiction (100%), followed by Upper Middle Class (57.14%), Lower Middle Class (41.93%) and Lower Class (40.0%). The group that had the least number of people habituated or addicted to habits causing ill health was the Upper Lower Group (21.0%). This comparison was found to be Statistically Significant. A study conducted in the Aligarh Muslim university to analyse the patterns of substance abuse in adolescents concluded that substance abuse was indeed related to the socioeconomic class the adolescent hailed from [11]. The comparison between the Addictions of theAdolescents and the Marital status of the Parents showed that among the children of the First Marriage, 26.10% were Addicted and 73.89% were not addicted, thereby giving the least prevalence of Addictions when compared to the Marital status of the parents. Among the children of Widowers, 100% of the Adolescents were not addicted to substances that initiate ill-health. 64.70% of the children from Divorcees were not addicted while 35.29% were addicted, this statistic was the highest prevalence of Addictions with respect to the Marital status of the parents. Among the children of Widows, 75% were not addicted and 25.0% were habituated to substances that caused ill Health. Among the individuals whose parents had remarried, 66.66% were not addicted or habituated while 33.33% were. These findings led us to conclude that addictions were more prevalent in dysfunctional families. These findings were similar to the findings of the studies such as the ones conducted by Needle et al. [12] and Fergusson et al. [13]. 

On comparison of the Addictions among the Adolescents and their occupational status it was found that Unskilled Workers had the highest prevalence of Addictions (41.93%) while Farmers had the Least prevalence of Addictions (0%) followed by Semi Skilled Workers (26.92%). Among the students, 22.94% were Addicted or Habituated. Students were also the group to have the highest number of people who were not addicted to anything (77.05%) followed by Semi skilled workers (73.07%) and Unemployed individuals (71.42%). A study conducted among the street children of Mumbai showed that most of the children who were studying were not studying. Among the ones who were, only 1.02% were addicted to substances that affect the health adversely [14]. These findings were similar to the finding of our study.

Comparison of the Addictions in the study community and the educational status showed that 43.75% of the Adolescents who were pursuing their Graduation had Habits and Addictions followed by the Individuals in Pre-University College (40.0%) and the ones who had quit during Primary Schooling (38.88%). Individuals who were in Middle School or who had quit when in Middle School were the ones with the least prevalence of Habits and Addictions (19.56%). This finding was similar to the finding of another study that was conducted in Malaysia which inferred a relationship which was directly proportional between the educational status and the risk of developing addictions among the adolescents [15]. Another study conducted in Mumbai showed a similar finding where only 5 among the 44.2% practicing substance abuse were in school. The rest were all school drop-outs [16].

This study, which was conducted in a relatively poor area of Gulbarga city, eventually revealed that Substance Abuse was prevalent, especially among the Late Adolescents. In conclusion, to minimise adolescent health risk behaviour, the following could be inculcated and emphasised upon:

Effective implementation of legislation for Road Safety, Reduction of access to Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs

Though promotion of alcohol consumption and tobacco consumption has been prohibited and restricted (The Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Amendment Bill [COPTA], 2007), the said must be implemented and levied upon in literal sense of the word. It should be strictly implied upon the rule that Minors should not be sold tobacco products or Alcohol.

• Healthy and Safe School and Community Environment

• Faculty, Staff, Shop Owners and Business Owners’ Health Promotion

• Family and Community involvement to improve adolescent health

• Physical Education and Activity

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