Substance Use Cascade among Youth in Six Southern Africa Countries: Prevalence and Risk Factors

Ololade Julius Baruwa, University of Cape Town
Christine Chawhanda, Wits University
Jonathan Levin, University of the Witwatersrand
Latifat Ibisomi, Wits University

Youthful substance use is a serious health concern because of the short and long time outcomes for individual engaging in it. We used the Need Assessment and Baseline Survey data in six Southern African countries to examine substance use cascade among youth in six Southern African countries by using a binary logistic regression method of analysis. The cascade analysis results showed that substance use among Young people is declining in all countries except for Lesotho where no change was observed. The cascade analysis also showed that a there’s possibility of substance reduction in all the six countries, The multivariate analysis, showed that Female Young people were less likely (OR=0.52, 95% CI=0.36-0.76) to be currently using substance. Young people with secondary education are more likely (OR=1.60, 95% CI=1.05-2.43). The findings from this study calls for actions against substance use for all the subgroups of Young people that are most vulnerable.