Smoking, alcohol consumption, and illicit substances use among adolescents in Poland

Table 3 Illicit substances use, the age of initiation, and frequency of illicit substances use among adolescents in Poland stratified by sex

		Sex							p
		female		male		total
		n	%	n	%	N	%
The age of initiation	Below the age of 8 years	1	0,34	6	2,42	7	1,30	Z = 3,24	0,001
	11–12 years of age	10	3,45	8	3,23	18	3,35
	13–14 years of age	19	6,55	37	14,92	56	10,41
	15–16 years of age	2	0,69	2	0,81	4	0,74
	Never used illicit substances	258	88,97	195	78,63	453	84,20
	Total	290	100,00	248	100,00	538	100,00
Current use of illicit substances	I don’t use illicit substances	272	94,12	207	83,47	479	89,20	χ²(1, N = 537) = 15,71	< 0,001
	I use illicit substances	17	5,88	41	16,53	58	10,80
	Total	289	100,00	248	100,00	537	100,00
Frequency of illicit substances use [refers to those who declared illicit substances use]	1–2 in life time	2	11,76	7	17,07	9	15,52	Z = 0,44	0,658
	Occasionally	11	64,71	25	60,98	36	62,07
	1–3 a week	1	5,88	4	9,76	5	8,62
	More than 3 times a week	3	17,65	5	12,20	8	13,79
	Total	17	100,00	41	100,00	58	100,00

Differences between female and men were analysed using either U Mann-Whitney test or Pearson chi-square test. (Those, who currently do not use illicit substances could have the history of the use in the past)

ISSN: 1747-597X