Perception and Practice of Nonmedical Use of Opioids among Young People in Ibadan, Nigeria

Background: The opioid crisis is a growing public health concern globally. This study investigated the opioid use among young people in Nigeria.

Method: A cross-sectional design was employed using self-administered questionnaire adapted from the WHO student drug-use survey tool. A four-stage sampling technique was used to select the respondents. The data were analyzed with SPSS version 20.

Results: The respondents’ mean age was 21.1±2.7 years. There were more male (57.3%) respondents. About 56.5% of the respondents had a poor perception of opioid use. The lifetime prevalence of codeine syrups, dihydrocodeine, Co-codamol, and tramadol use was 14.4%, 13.5%, 13.0%, and 11.4%, respectively, while the past-year was 13.6%, 10.0%, 12.7%, and 10.0%, respectively, and the past-month 12.5%, 13.0%, 12.2%, and 9.4%, respectively. Most of the respondents involved in opioid use were introduced to it by friends/peers (codeine [42.5%]; tramadol [56.1%]). The age of onset of opioid use was 15–19 years (codeine) and > 20 years (tramadol). Perception of opioid abuse was significantly associated with nonmedical use of opioids.

Conclusion: The respondents’ perception of opioid use was significant with lifetime, past-year, and past-month nonmedical use of opioids; hence, public enlightenment is needed as a strategy to curb the menace of the opioid crisis among young people.