Prevalence and Correlates of Khat (Catha edulis) Chewing among Adult Residents in Dilla Town, South Ethiopia 2019: A Cross Sectional Study

Introduction: Catha edulis (khat) plant is an evergreen tree. In Ethiopia khat (Catha edulis) is commonly used for social and religious purpose. It is widely abused in East Africa in general and in Ethiopia in particular for various purposes. Khat chewing has negative influence on the physical, psychological, physiological and economic well-being of the community. However, only few studies are available on prevalence of khat chewing and its determinants in south Ethiopia. So the aim of this study is to narrow this gap by assessing prevalence of khat chewing and its determinants among adult residents at Dilla town, South West Ethiopia from May 1st-30th 2019. Methods: Quantitative community based cross sectional study was conduct to determine prevalence of khat chewing and associated factors using self-structured interviewer administered questionnaires on a total of 489 sampled participants using two stage sampling method. Descriptive statistics was done to summarize the dependent and independent variables. Data analysis was done by using SPSS version-20. Multiple logistic regression was used to test the association between determinants and chat chewing and P-value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: In this study, the lifetime prevalence of khat chewing was found to be 30.4% while the current prevalence of chewing was 34.3%. Bing male (AOR=3(0.345-0.491), being follower of Muslim religion (Std. β=3.31, 95% C.I: 2.4, 5.82), having friend who chews khat (Std. β=3.91, 95% C.I: 1.53, 4.45) and having family who chews khat (Std. β=1.91, 95% C.I: 1.53, 2.29) were factors independently associated with chewing of khat of respondents Conclusion: One third of the respondents chewed khat in their life and current time. Community based health education should be provided to the people about the adverse effects of khat by invited psychiatric professionals of Dilla university referral hospital. Keywords Dilla; Khat; South Ethiopia; Prevalence; Associated factors; Adult residents