International Journal of Health Sciences & Research (www.ijhsr.org) 43 Vol.6; Issue: 1; January 2016 International Journal of Health Sciences and Research www.ijhsr.org ISSN: 2249-9571 Original Research Article Pattern of Substance Abuse among Undergraduate Medical Students in Central India: A Cross Sectional Institutional Study Sanjeev Kumar, Anjana Niranjan, Manish Kumar Post Graduate Student, Department of Community Medicine, Shyam Shah Medical College, Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, India Corresponding Author: Sanjeev Kumar Received: 11/12/2015 Revised: 23/12/2015 Accepted: 28/12/2015 ABSTRACT Introduction: Medical education has always been regarded as highly stressful. Although, only the academically-minded youth in the society tend to be selected for medical education, the stressful academic environment can exert a negative effect on the psychological and physical well-being of medical students. Methods: Cross-sectional institutional study conducted among undergraduate medical college students of S.S.Medical College Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, India. Information collected with the semi- structured oral questionnaire after obtaining informed verbal consent. Data pertaining to the general information of the student (sex, residence, academic year, type of family, influence and role of family members) details of substance abuse (type, age of initiation, frequency) and attitude towards substance abuse. Data was analyzed using graphpad software. Results: Out of total 267 students only 228 students (85.4%) responded. Out of total 228 students only 67 medical students were substances users. Male constituted 94.0%, whereas females were 6.0%. 28.3% substance abusers in interns. 88% were hostellers, 38.9% come from joint families, 29.9% having history of substance abuse in their siblings. Most common substances used were cigarettes (80.6%). 31.3% initiated substance used in school. 34.3% were Habitual user. In 58.2% perceived reason for substance use were celebrate some occasion.74.6% did not feel any unwanted effects. 39 had made some attempts to quitting the substances, 61.5% knew ill effects on health. 41.1% had quitted by gradually decrease. 31 were failure to quit. 64.5% attributed their failures to lack of will power. Conclusions: Continuing use of these substances in spite of knowledge of hazards associated with them reflected lack of health consciousness and need of proper health education. Key words: Medical students, Substance abuse, Pattern, India. INTRODUCTION Substance use is defined as, “Persistent or sporadic drug use inconsistent with or unrelated to acceptable medical practice.” In recent years substance use has increased greatly throughout the world. A particularly alarming fact is that the age of initiation into substance use is progressively falling. [1] Medical education has always been regarded as highly stressful. Although, only the academically-minded youth in the society tend to be selected for medical education, the stressful academic