Knowledge and perceptions of synthetic cannabinoids among university students in Jordan.

The emergence of blends of synthetic cannabinoids (SC) is an alarming public health concern in Jordan and worldwide. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and perceptions of university students of SC. A cross-sectional study employing a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data fro...

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Autores principales:	Mahmoud M AbuAlSamen, Tamam El-Elimat, Basima A Almomani, Nour A Al-Sawalha
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/7d5da5e97b3842138764e328d7e292cf
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:7d5da5e97b3842138764e328d7e292cf2021-12-02T20:10:08ZKnowledge and perceptions of synthetic cannabinoids among university students in Jordan.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0253632https://doaj.org/article/7d5da5e97b3842138764e328d7e292cf2021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253632https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203The emergence of blends of synthetic cannabinoids (SC) is an alarming public health concern in Jordan and worldwide. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and perceptions of university students of SC. A cross-sectional study employing a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 1,789 university students in Jordan. The questionnaire measured the knowledge and perceptions of students of SC. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to investigate the potential predictors of good knowledge of SC. Perceptions of students regarding SC use, prevalence and availability were investigated using principal component analysis. Self-reported familiarity with SC was high (92.5%), while good knowledge was only demonstrated by (33.6%) of students. Predictors of good knowledge included being a smoker (aOR = 1.369, 95% Cl = 11.041-1.871, p = .026), an alcohol user (aOR = 2.134, 95% CI = 1.362-3.346, p = .001), being informed by traditional media (aOR = 1.367, 95% CI = 11.113-1.679, p = .003), social media (aOR = 1.241, 95% CI = 1.161-1.403, p = .021) and self-familiarity with SC (aOR = 2.499, 95% CI = 1.518-4.114, p < .0001). Students perceived SC use to be prevalent and ethically unacceptable, for religious, social, and legal reasons. There were significant differences in the ethical perceptions against the use of SC detected by gender (p < .0001), smoking (p < .0001) or alcohol use (p = .001), and being informed by both traditional media (p-.001) and social media (p = .001), but there were no differences by the level of knowledge (p = .057). Those of good knowledge and those of low knowledge did not differ on their ethical perceptions of using SC. This study showed that there was a low level of knowledge regarding SC among university students in Jordan, which may play a role in the use of SC in the country. Herein, many opportunities exist for public health education to raise awareness against SC use.Mahmoud M AbuAlSamenTamam El-ElimatBasima A AlmomaniNour A Al-SawalhaPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 6, p e0253632 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Mahmoud M AbuAlSamen Tamam El-Elimat Basima A Almomani Nour A Al-Sawalha Knowledge and perceptions of synthetic cannabinoids among university students in Jordan.
description	The emergence of blends of synthetic cannabinoids (SC) is an alarming public health concern in Jordan and worldwide. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and perceptions of university students of SC. A cross-sectional study employing a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 1,789 university students in Jordan. The questionnaire measured the knowledge and perceptions of students of SC. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to investigate the potential predictors of good knowledge of SC. Perceptions of students regarding SC use, prevalence and availability were investigated using principal component analysis. Self-reported familiarity with SC was high (92.5%), while good knowledge was only demonstrated by (33.6%) of students. Predictors of good knowledge included being a smoker (aOR = 1.369, 95% Cl = 11.041-1.871, p = .026), an alcohol user (aOR = 2.134, 95% CI = 1.362-3.346, p = .001), being informed by traditional media (aOR = 1.367, 95% CI = 11.113-1.679, p = .003), social media (aOR = 1.241, 95% CI = 1.161-1.403, p = .021) and self-familiarity with SC (aOR = 2.499, 95% CI = 1.518-4.114, p < .0001). Students perceived SC use to be prevalent and ethically unacceptable, for religious, social, and legal reasons. There were significant differences in the ethical perceptions against the use of SC detected by gender (p < .0001), smoking (p < .0001) or alcohol use (p = .001), and being informed by both traditional media (p-.001) and social media (p = .001), but there were no differences by the level of knowledge (p = .057). Those of good knowledge and those of low knowledge did not differ on their ethical perceptions of using SC. This study showed that there was a low level of knowledge regarding SC among university students in Jordan, which may play a role in the use of SC in the country. Herein, many opportunities exist for public health education to raise awareness against SC use.
format	article
author	Mahmoud M AbuAlSamen Tamam El-Elimat Basima A Almomani Nour A Al-Sawalha
author_facet	Mahmoud M AbuAlSamen Tamam El-Elimat Basima A Almomani Nour A Al-Sawalha
author_sort	Mahmoud M AbuAlSamen
title	Knowledge and perceptions of synthetic cannabinoids among university students in Jordan.
title_short	Knowledge and perceptions of synthetic cannabinoids among university students in Jordan.
title_full	Knowledge and perceptions of synthetic cannabinoids among university students in Jordan.
title_fullStr	Knowledge and perceptions of synthetic cannabinoids among university students in Jordan.
title_full_unstemmed	Knowledge and perceptions of synthetic cannabinoids among university students in Jordan.
title_sort	knowledge and perceptions of synthetic cannabinoids among university students in jordan.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/7d5da5e97b3842138764e328d7e292cf
work_keys_str_mv	AT mahmoudmabualsamen knowledgeandperceptionsofsyntheticcannabinoidsamonguniversitystudentsinjordan AT tamamelelimat knowledgeandperceptionsofsyntheticcannabinoidsamonguniversitystudentsinjordan AT basimaaalmomani knowledgeandperceptionsofsyntheticcannabinoidsamonguniversitystudentsinjordan AT nouraalsawalha knowledgeandperceptionsofsyntheticcannabinoidsamonguniversitystudentsinjordan
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Knowledge and perceptions of synthetic cannabinoids among university students in Jordan.

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