Introduction

Drug use brings negative consequences in all settings and it is considered a public health problem. The aim was to determine the prevalence of consumption of psychoactive substances by nursing aides.

Materials and Methods

Cross-sectional descriptive study, with probabilistic sample comprised of 110 nursing aides who work in a health institution. The information was collected through a survey that contained demographic and consumption variables; CAGE and Fagerström tests were applied. Measures of central tendency and dispersion were calculated for quantitative variables and absolute and relative frequencies were calculated for qualitative variables. Bivariate analysis was performed, establishing the difference lifetime consumption proportions of psychoactive substances for some sociodemographic variables.

Results

Mean age was 29 years, 81.8% were women, and 60% were single. The most-consumed substance was alcohol with 62.7%, followed by energy drinks with 28.2%, and tobacco at 19.1%.

Discussion

As in other studies, the most-consumed substances were alcohol and tobacco; men were the highest consumers. The motives for consuming were to socialize. More than a fourth consumed energy drinks to increase their state of alertness. The prevalence of lifetime consumption of alcohol is lower than that reported in the general Colombian population.

Conclusions

Consumption of legal and illegal substances, except for sedatives was lower than those reported in the general population and similar to other studies in health staff.

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