Chewing Khat Habit among Students of Dire Dawa University Ethiopia

: Chewing Khat is one of the leading causes of mental disorders in Ethiopia. An alarming increase in Khat chewing among adults since the early 1990s was reported. Studies have shown that starting chewing Khat early in life is associated with an increased risk of adverse health effects. The objective of the study: This study was conducted to measure the increase in Khat chewing among students at Dire Dawa University students in Dire Dawa City, identify the natural causes of the problem, and demonstrate students' knowledge of the effects of Khat chewing. Material and Methods: The study was separate. Dated February 2021. Students during study time (n = 302) were included. The information was collected through personal interviews and completed a list of questions prepared after reviewing. RESULTS: Male (88.2%) of responding students chewed Khat with a significant difference (P <0.001) between males and females in terms of chewing. The year of student study, academic achievement, and family history of chewing Khat had a significant impact (P <0.05) on chewer students. Of the Khat chewer students who read 35.6% reported chewing both morning and afternoon. 66.7% of students who chewed reported that they had intentions to stop chewing and 82.4% considered chewing to be dangerous. CONCLUSION: Khat chewing gum among students is considered a problem and efforts are needed to help students stop chewing and this is considered a way to prevent Khat chewing among students.

Recently, chewing khat has become a common practice among high school, college, and university students for entertainment purposes and because they believe it increases their academic performance [3,4]. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified khat as an antidepressant drug that can produce mild to moderate mental retardation [5 -6]. According to the WHO, chronic use of khat can lead to a variety of physical ailments, including urinary retention, weakness, oral cancer, tooth decay, chronic gastritis, hemorrhoids, paralyzed ileus, cirrhosis of the liver, high blood pressure high, and blurred vision. In addition, it can cause reactions to depression and suicide, mania and have effects on the central nervous system, e.g. dizziness, mental retardation, good tremors, insomnia, and headaches. Khat chewers have a much higher mortality rate due to chronic diseases such as heart disease and stroke than non-khat chewing, and chewing khat among teens can increase the risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases [7] Material and Methods: The study was separate. Dated February 2021. Students during study time (n = 377) were included, responding to 302 students (response rate = 80.01%). The information was collected through personal interviews and completed a list of questions that were prepared after reviewing where all questions were related to the objectives mentioned above. Information about gender, distance, place of residence, academic achievement, economic status, and family history of Khat chewing was collected for all non-academic and nonconservative students. Data about the time of chewing, the cause of chewing, the difficulty of chewing, the amount of Khat per day, the purpose of stopping chewing, knowing the dangers of chewing, the idea of chewing, the effect of chewing Khat on social life, the effect of chewing Khat on personality and mind chewing Khat chewed were collected from students be Khat chewing only.

Statistical Analysis:
The data collected was coded and analyzed using a social science statistics package (SPSS, version 15). The w2 test was used as a value test, and the difference was considered significant at a P-value of 0.05 or less.  Table (2) shows the relationship between the characteristics of a particular student and the nature of Khat's chewing for university students. Males (88.2%) of the university responding students chewed with a significant difference (P <0.001) between males and females regarding chewing.

Result and Discussion
The year of student study, academic achievement, and family history of Khat chewing had a significant impact (P <0.05) on students chewing the habit. On the other hand, no significant differences were found between students living in different areas and groups of economic conditions in terms of chewing.  (4) shows the frequency of Khat chewing, the pattern of daily use, and the concept of chewing Khat of addiction among university students who have studied Khat chewer. Of the university students studying Khat chewing, 70.6% of Khat chewing students reported that they used to chew daily and 33.4% reported chewing 1/2 Kilo or more daily. However, 60.8% reported that they had the idea that Khat chewing was addictive.

Discussion
The prevalence of Khat chewing among university students in the current study was 33.8% of students responding to universities. The current study revealed a significant difference (P <0.001) between males and females regarding chewing. In addition, the results showed that that year of university student study and family history of Khat chewing had a significant impact on Khat chewing for university students (P <0.05). On the other hand, the social and economic outcomes for students chewing were not significant (P> 0.05).
The results showed that 76.5% of Khat chewer university students started chewing at the age of 18. Of the students who Khat chewer 25.5% reported that the cause of chewing was peer pressure. Regarding the difficulty of chewing Khat 70.6% of Khat chewers, University students reported that they chew daily.
In the current study, 66.7% of university students studying Khat chewer reported that they intended to stop chewing. Current research has shown that all students studying at university are aware of the dangers of chewing Khat.

Conclusion
Chewing Khat among university students is considered a major problem because they will be future employees who should play a key role in helping adults to stop chewing. Efforts are needed to help students stop chewing Khat and this is seen as a way to prevent the problem of chewing Khat from future employees. Anti-Khat chewing education should be included in student degree courses, as well as launching anti-chewing campaigns.