Excessive substance use among young people consulting family doctors: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Family doctors can only play a role in the prevention of excessive substance use in young people if those affected are seen in the practice.

Objective: To describe the prevalence of excessive substance use among young people consulting family doctors in a European context.

Methods: As part of a trial of an intervention addressing substance use we collected data from young people consulting 32 family doctors in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Before the consultation, consecutive patients aged 15-24 years completed a self-administered questionnaire on their general health and substance use. Outcomes were excessive alcohol (defined as ≥1 episode of binge drinking), excessive cannabis (use ≥1/week), regular tobacco (≥1 cigarettes a day) and/or any other substance use in the past 30 days. Prevalence data were computed with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) adjusted for clustering within practices, stratified by age and gender.

Results: Between February 2009 and November 2010, 636 patients were eligible. Participation rate was 93.4% (n=594, 53% female). The prevalence of excessive use in the past 30 days was alcohol 44.9% (95% CI: 37.8-52.1), cannabis 11.1% (95% CI: 8.0-14.1), tobacco 23.4% (95% CI: 19.0-28.1) and any other drug 2.6 (95% CI: 1.4-4.2). Excessive use was higher in males than in females. Except for tobacco prevalence of excessive use was only slightly higher in young adults compared to adolescents.

Conclusion: Excessive substance use is frequent among young people consulting family doctors in a European context. Future research should provide guidance about how to best seize this window of opportunity for prevention and early intervention.

Keywords: Adolescent; binge drinking; family practice; marijuana smoking; prevalence; tobacco use..