Iranian school teachers: knowledge and attitude toward ecstasy.
The drug ecstasy has been increasingly used for recreational purposes, especially among students. Teachers play an important role in altering student attitudes toward ecstasy.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to access teacher knowledge and attitude toward ecstasy and its side effects.


METHODS
In a cross-sectional study, 460 teachers from 20 public and 10 private schools were randomly invited to participate in the study between April 2005 and April 2006 and their knowledge and attitudes toward ecstasy were collected on the basis of a designed questionnaire.


RESULTS
No significant correlation was found between knowledge about ecstasy and gender, whereas, there was a positive relation between knowledge and education level of the teachers (P = .033). Attitude was higher in female participants (P = .012), but was not related to the age of the teachers. We found no relation between attitude toward ecstasy and the teachers' education levels.


CONCLUSIONS
Knowledge about ecstasy and its side effects was dependant on the teachers' education level, whereas their attitude toward ecstasy was dependent on the teachers' gender.
Dabiran
Soheila
S
Medical Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. swt_f@yahoo.com
Khosravi
Shahla
S
Hatmi
Zinat Nadia
ZN
Sheikhvatan
Mehrdad
M
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001290:Attitude; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D006213:Hallucinogens; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D006213:Hallucinogens; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine