title: Factors associated with Ecstasy use in Turkish students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to establish the factors associated with Ecstasy use in secondary school students in Turkey.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a survey of a representative sample drawn from cities in different geographical regions in Turkey in 1998 and 2001. The questionnaire was administered to a total of 18,556 and 11,911 10th-grade students in 1998 and 2001, respectively.
  
  
  METHODS
  The questionnaire administered in the study was adapted from the questionnaires used in 'Monitoring the Future' study in the United States and ESPAD (the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs). It included questions about demographic characteristics, family characteristics, school life, social contacts and use of substances.
  
  
  RESULTS
  While the percentage of those who used Ecstasy at least once in their life-times was 2.65% in 1998, the figure reached 3.31% in 2001. Male gender, older age, use of alcohol, cannabis, heroin and cocaine, non-medical use of psychotherapeutic drugs and participation in a meeting concerning the adverse effects of substance use were found to be significant variables predicting 'ever use' of Ecstasy in both years by logistic regression analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ecstasy use, while low in Turkey, appears to be on the increase and follows a pattern in terms of correlates that is similar to other illicit drugs. Whatever the causes behind the rise in Ecstasy use, creative, personalized and informative educational programmes should be conducted in all educational institutions to curb Ecstasy use.
authors.affiliation: Kocaeli University Medical Faculty, Istanbul, Turkey. aytul@mail.koc.net
authors.forename: Aytül
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Corapçioğlu
authors.forename: Kültegin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ogel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine