Abstract:
Background: khat is a large green shrub grown in Eastern to Southern Africa and extends to
Arabian Peninsula. Khat chewing has negative consequences on day to day life of the users. These
include socio- economic impact, poor health and impaired quality of life. Adverse effects of khat
chewing include impairment of perceptual-visual memory and decision making. Khat chewing is
associated with frequently absenteeism from class and poor academic performance among students.
Although khat has harmful consequences, little is known about khat use and mental distress among
high school students in Ethiopia.
Objectives: To assess khat chewing and its association with mental distress among high school
students in Jimma town.
Methods: A Cross sectional study design was used. Data was collected by using self-reported
questionnaires (SRQ-20) which was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to assess
symptoms of mental distress. Structured questionnaire was used to assess khat chewing and risky
sexual behavior of the students. Data were entered into epi-data then exported and analyzed by
using statistical package for social science (SPSS version 21). The association between dependent
and independent variable was described by using binary and multiple logistic regressions. Variables
with p-value less than 0.05 in multivariate logistic regression were declared as having significant
association with the dependent variable.
Result: The life time prevalence of khat chewing among Jimma city high school students was nearly
16%. Of these, 74.5% and 25.5% of them were male and female students respectively. However,
current prevalence of khat chewing among these students was 14.2%. Out of this, 71.4 % and 28.6 %
of them were male and females respectively. The prevalence of mental distress among the study
participants was found to be 12.2%. Of this, 30.6% % and 69.4 % were male and females
respectively. Out of students who had mental distress, 22.2 % of them were khat chewer. Younger
age, being male, having sexual contact and suicidal ideation were independently associated with
khat chewing.
Conclusion: The high prevalence of khat chewing and mental distress found in our study highlights
the need of necessary action to tackle khat related problems. Also, students with risky sexual
behavior and suicidal ideation need immediate action from jimma town education bureau.
