Concurrent alcohol and tobacco use among school-going adolescents in Namibia: Prevalence and risk factors

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors for concurrent alcohol and tobacco use among school-going adolescents in Namibia. Data were from a sample of 4 531 Namibian middle school children (females = 53.1%; mean age = 15.8 years, SD = 1.8 years). They completed the Namibia Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) in 2013. Overall, 74.4% of alcohol users in the past month were frequent tobacco users; whereas 40.5% of tobacco users in the past month were frequent alcohol users. Compared to students who were neither alcohol nor tobacco users (63.1%), concurrent alcohol and tobacco users were more likely to self-report with a lack of parent support, to have used illicit drugs, to have engaged in school truancy, to be sedentary in behaviour, to have engaged in a physical fight, and to have had two or more sexual partners. Substance use prevention and treatment programmes with adolescents should routinely address their risk for comorbid tobacco and alcohol use.