High-risk behaviors prevalence among Islamic Azad and Payame Noor University students in Roudan, 2016

Drug and alcohol use and unconventional sex are among the high-risk behaviors and the cause of social damages of human societies in the modern era. In addition to numerous health problems, it also threatens the social and cultural foundations of the societies. Unfortunately, young people are the most vulnerable group to tend toward these behaviors. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of these behaviors in Rudan city students. It was an applied descriptive cross-sectional study. The statistical population of the study were Rudan Islamic Azad and Payame Noor University students. A sample of 530 students were selected through randomized stratified sampling. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. The prevalence of drug use (opiates, stimulants, industrial, traditional, and etc.) was 5.5% (8.2% in boys and 1.1% in girls) and for tobacco products (including cigarettes and hookahs and tobacco) it was 20% (24.2% In boys and 16.4% in girls). In addition, 10.5% of boys and 2.9% of girls had an out of marriage sex history in the past year. This study shows the need to pay more attention to social harms including high-risk sexual behaviors, drug use, and smoking in the students.