Prevalence and predictors of khat chewing among Ethiopian university students: A systematic review and meta-analysis

<div><p>Background</p><p>Khat chewing has become a common practice among university students in developing countries like Ethiopia. It has a potential effect on physical, mental, social and cognitive aspects of student functioning. In Ethiopia, study findings regarding the prevalence of khat chewing were highly dispersed and inconsistent. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis estimates the pooled prevalence of khat chewing and its predictors among Ethiopian university students.</p><p>Method</p><p>A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to assess the prevalence and predictors of khat chewing among university students in Ethiopia. We searched literature from the databases of PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and the Cochrane Library. A total of 24 Ethiopian studies reporting the prevalence of khat chewing among university students were included. Data were extracted using a standardized data extraction format prepared in Microsoft Excel and the analysis was done using STATA 14 statistical software. To assess heterogeneity, the Cochrane Q test statistics and <i>I</i>^<i>2</i> test were used. Since the included studies exhibit high heterogeneity, a random effect meta-analysis model was computed to estimate the pooled prevalence of khat chewing. Moreover, the association between predictor variables, and khat chewing practice were examined.</p><p>Results</p><p>The meta-analysis of 24 studies revealed that the pooled prevalence of khat chewing among university students in Ethiopia was 23.22% (95% CI: 19.5, 27.0). In the subgroup analysis, the highest prevalence was observed in Oromia region (31.6%; 95CI: 21.2, 41.9) whereas the lowest prevalence was observed in Amhara region (18.1%; 95%CI: 12.4, 23.8). Being male OR: 2.76 (95% CI 1.64, 4.63), family khat chewing practice OR: 2.91 (95% CI 1.06, 7.98), friend khat chewing habit OR: 4.74 (95% CI 3.48, 13.06), alcohol drinking OR: 7.06 (95% CI 5.65, 8.82) and cigarette smoking habit OR: 15.11 (95% CI 8.96, 25.51) were found to be predictors of khat chewing.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>The study found that the prevalence of khat chewing among university students was quite common, with slightly more than 1 in 5 students engaging in the use of this substance. Being male, family khat chewing practice, friend’s khat chewing habit, alcohol drinking, and cigarette smoking were found to be predictors of khat chewing practice among university students.</p></div

Prevalence and predictors of khat chewing among Ethiopian university students: A systematic review and meta-analysis - Fig 3

<p>Forest plot depicting pooled odds ratio (log scale) of the associations between khat chewing and its purported determinants (<b>A</b>: Gender, <b>B</b>: Family khat chewing habit, <b>C</b>: Friend khat chewing practice, <b>D</b>: Alcohol drinking habit, <b>E</b>: Cigarette smoking habit).</p

Forest plot of the pooled prevalence of khat chewing in Ethiopian universities, 2017.

<p>Forest plot of the pooled prevalence of khat chewing in Ethiopian universities, 2017.</p

Related factors with heterogeneity of khat chewing prevalence among university students in the current meta-analysis (based on a univariate meta-regression model).

<p>Related factors with heterogeneity of khat chewing prevalence among university students in the current meta-analysis (based on a univariate meta-regression model).</p

Flow chart describing the selection of studies for the systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence and predictors of khat chewing among university students in Ethiopia, 2017 (identified screened, eligible and included studies).

<p>Articles may have been excluded for more than one reason.</p

Subgroup prevalence of khat chewing in Ethiopian universities, 2017 (n = 24).

<p>Subgroup prevalence of khat chewing in Ethiopian universities, 2017 (n = 24).</p

Additional file 2: of Household latrine utilization and its association with educational status of household heads in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Descriptive summary of 19 studies included in the meta-analysis of the level of latrine utilizations and its association with educational status in Ethiopia. (DOCX 22 kb

Additional file 1: of Household latrine utilization and its association with educational status of household heads in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Quality assessment of 19 included studies. (DOCX 17 kb