Socio-demographic characteristics of analgesic misuse among urban young adults of east sikkim, north east india: a controlled, cross-sectional study

Introduction: Inappropriate use of prescription medications without medical supervision and most
commonly prescription analgesic misuse has emerged as an important public health issue. Studies
have been conducted in other countries to explore and understand various socio-demographic profile,
drug use characteristics etc. among the general population. However, little information is available
from India describing the magnitude of analgesic misuse.
Aim: This study was conducted to understand various socio-demographic characteristics such as age,
sex, religion, marital status, ethnicity, occupation, income, education, role of migration etc. of
analgesic misuse in an urban area of East Sikkim among young adults of 15– 40 years of age of either
sex.
Materials and Methods: A pre-devised questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristic was
administered to n=700 subjects after obtaining informed consent. Data was statistically analyzed
using SPSS software.
Results: Male participants (53.1%) outnumbered female (46.9%). Majority of the participants were
literate (84.7%). Most of the participants were occupationally employed (66.9%), Nepali by ethnicity
(58.6%), married (64.3%), and Hindu (67.0%) by religion. Significant statistical differences were
reported; source of income (χ2 = 7.326, df=1, P=0.026), accommodation type (χ2 = 6.733, df=1,
P=0.009), average monthly income (χ2 = 9.929, df=3, P=0.019), past 30 days incidence of smoking
(χ2 = 14.430, df=2, P=0.001), pain in the past 30 days (χ2 = 23.282, df=1, P<0.001), BMI (χ2 =
140.224, df=2, P<0.001).
Conclusion: Both alcohol consumption and smoking are reported significantly in analgesic misusers
as compared to non-misusers and also respondents with pain in the past month with a higher body
mass index misused more analgesics.