The PACARDO research project: youthful drug involvement in Central America and the Dominican Republic Proyecto de investigación PACARDO: el consumo de drogas entre la juventud en Centroamérica y la República Dominicana

• Main Authors: Catherine M. Dormitzer, Gonzalo B. Gonzalez, Marcel Penna, Julio Bejarano, Patricia Obando, Mauricio Sanchez, Kenneth Vittetoe, Ulises Gutierrez, Juan Alfaro, Guillermo Meneses, Jorge Bolivar Diaz, Manuel Herrera, Julia Hasbun, Anna Chisman, Luis Caris, Chen Chuan-Yu, James C. Anthony
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Pan American Health Organization 2004
• Subjects: Adolescent; adolescent behavior; alcohol drinking; smoking; substance-related disorders; Central America; Dominican Republic; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/5a977fa840ea477e9b7ac889ce5c6a92

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the occurrence and school-level clustering of drug involvement among school-attending adolescent youths in each of seven countries in Latin America, drawing upon evidence from the PACARDO research project, a multinational collaborative epidemiological research study. METHODS: During 1999-2000, anonymous self-administered questionnaires on drug involvement and related behaviors were administered to a cross-sectional, nationally representative sample that included a total of 12 797 students in the following seven countries: Costa Rica (n= 1 702), the Dominican Republic (n= 2 023), El Salvador (n= 1 628), Guatemala (n= 2 530), Honduras (n= 1 752), Nicaragua (n= 1 419), and Panama (n= 1 743). (The PACARDO name concatenates PA for Panamá,CA for Centroamérica,and RDO for República Dominicana). Estimates for exposure opportunity and actual use of alcohol, tobacco, inhalants, marijuana, cocaine (crack/coca paste), amphetamines and methamphetamines, tranquilizers, ecstasy, and heroin were assessed via responses about questions on age of first chance to try each drug, and first use. Logistic regression models accounting for the complex survey design were used to estimate the associations of interest. RESULTS: Cumulative occurrence estimates for alcohol, tobacco, inhalants, marijuana, and illegal drug use for the overall sample were, respectively: 52%, 29%, 5%, 4%, and 5%. In comparison to females, males were more likely to use alcohol, tobacco, inhalants, marijuana, and illegal drugs; the odds ratio estimates were 1.3, 2.1, 1.6, 4.1, and 3.2, respectively. School-level clustering was noted in all countries for alcohol and tobacco use; it was also noted in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Panama for illegal drug use. CONCLUSIONS: This report sheds new light on adolescent drug experiences in Panama, the five Spanish-heritage countries of Central America, and the Dominican Republic, and presents the first estimates of school-level clustering of youthful drug involvement in these seven countries. ...