Alcohol drinking and substance use behavior among high school students in Adana

Material and Method: The universe of our study was the high school students in Adana city centre in 2009-2010 academic year. The schools were selected by random numbers table. The sample was 3120 students from 20 high schools. The ?Modified Youth Risk Behaviors Surveillance? questionnaire used.Results: Of the students, 46.4 % were male and 53.6 % were female. The mean age was 16±1,2 (14-21) years. Of students, 40.7 % ever tried drinking alcohol at least once in their lives. The mean age of the first try for drinking alcohol was 13,96 ± 2,8 years. A significant relationship was found between trying to drink alcohol and gender, age, parental educational status, the mean monthly family income, the socioeconomic status of the schools and the alcohol drinking behavior of the family.Of students, 3.5% stated that they had ever tried substance use at least once in their lifetime. The most common substance that was used was marijuana (2.6%). A significant relationship was found between the student?s substance use behavior and gender, the socioeconomic status of the schools but not significantly related to the parental educational status and the socioeconomic status of the family. When we compared our results with those of the study in 2000 performed by our department, the rate of in the alcohol and substance use behavior of male students increased. The rate of drinking behavior of the female students decreased while the rate of substance use behavior of the female students showed no change.Conclusion: The alcohol and substance use behaviors are preventable risky behaviors that show an increase. Family physician should asses the adolescent?s alcohol and substance use behaviors and for advising about risky behaviors.Key Words: Adolescent, high school, alcohol, substance, family medicine, risky behavior.