Epidemiology of Inhalant Abuse - Archives - National Institute on ...

TABLE 1. Prevalence <strong>of</strong> use <strong>of</strong> inhalants (number <strong>of</strong> persons per
100), by age, Colombia, 1992.
Age
Preval. Preval. Prop. Preval. Preval. Prop
life ratio + past year ratio ++
12-17 6.6 4.2” 3.2 6.6*
18-24 5.0 3.2* 2.1 4.3”
25-44 2.7 1.7* 1.1 2.3
45-59 1.6 1 .0* 0.5 1.0
KEY: * = significant; + = chi 2 <strong>of</strong> tendency, p < 0.0001;
++ = chi 2 <strong>of</strong> tendency, p < 0.000000l.
Other results suggest that the lifetime and past-year use <strong>of</strong> inhalants was
higher among nonworking individuals and among individuals with
independent sources <strong>of</strong> income or who were retired than those who were
unemployed, employed, or who were students. Uncharacteristically, the
individuals with the lowest level <strong>of</strong> use were among people seeking
employment (table 2).
Marital status was another factor found to be correlated with inhalant use
among Colombians. The results as shown in table 3 suggest that those
individuals who lived in common-law marriages were more likely to use
inhalants than those who were formally married. Overall, the lifetime
and past-year inhalant use rates were higher among common-law couples
than among married individuals, singles, or separated or divorced
couples.
These survey results also show that consumption <strong>of</strong> inhalants did not
show significant differences based on gender. The proportion <strong>of</strong> lifetime
consumption, adjusted by age, was 3.8 percent for both sexes and
1.8 percent for women and 1.5 percent for men for past-year use.
Educational level, once adjusted for age, did not present major
differences either, except that lower proportions are found among those
who have had some amount <strong>of</strong> higher education (table 4). Chi-square
tests for tendency were not significant for inhalant consumption during
lifetime or during past year.
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