Jalal Ale-Ebrahim
1 
, Sima Afrashteh
2, Leila Janani
3, Seyed Ahmad Seyed Alinaghi
4, Seyed Abbas Motevalian
5, Arezoo Kasavandi
6, Mahdi Sedgh Azar
7, Mansour Sajadipour
8, Behnam Farhoudi
9, Abbas Abbasi-Ghahramanloo
10* 1 Department of Epidemiology, Iran University of Medical Sciences Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Health and Nutrition, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
3 Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
4 Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
5 Research Center for Addiction and High-Risk Behaviors (ReCARB), Psychosocial Health Research Institute, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
6 Department of Microbiology, Shahr-e-Qods Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
7 Head of Behavioral Disease Counselling Center Boali, Vice Chancellor of Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
8 Department of Epidemiology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
9 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Amiralmomenin Hospital, Tehran Medical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
10 Department of Public Health, School of Health, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran
Abstract
Background: Substance use is recognized as an important factor associated with many diseases and premature deaths and the main risk factor for disability worldwide. This study aims to identify subgroups of substance use in adults and detect the effect of imprisonment on the membership of participants in latent classes of substance use.
Study Design: A cross-sectional study.
Methods: This study was performed on 930 adult people who were referred to behavioral health counseling centers in Tehran province. All participants completed some checklists and questionnaires. Data analysis was performed using chi-square, Fisher’s exact test, and latent class analysis (LCA).
Results: Four latent classes were identified, including non-users (58%), cigarette smokers (11.6%), users of low stigma substances (27.4%), and drug users (3.1%). After adjusting for other studied variables, having a history of imprisonment increased the odds of membership in the cigarette smoker class (Odds ratio [OR]=5.82, 95%, confidence interval [CI]: 3.19-10.63) and drug user class (OR=53.59, 95% CI: 18.00- 159.52) compared to non-user class. Among all participants, 84 (9.0%) had a history of imprisonment.
Conclusion: Results from the present study indicate that 30.5% of the participants fell under the user of the low-stigma substance or drug user group. Focusing on increasing prisoner’s knowledge of the dangers of using different substances and considering various programs for prisoners’ leisure time may help reduce substance use prevalence.