title: [Prevalence of drug abuse among children in basic schools].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Peer methodology (PM) is an adaptation of the privileged access interviewer methodology and is used for prevalence studies. PM estimates higher drug consumption frequencies among school and college students than self reports, since it minimizes underreporting.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess drug abuse among students using PM.
  
  
  METHODS
  A random sample of 234 school students of middle and low-middle socioeconomic status, aged 9 to 14 years (53% women) were interviewed using PM about drug consumption.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The frequency of illicit drug consumption during the last year was 29% and 15% during the last month (current consumption). The consumption of tobacco and alcohol was 20% and 18% respectively during the last year. The figures for the last month were 11% and 8% respectively. The beginning age for smoking and alcohol consumption were 11.1 +/-1.5 and 11.3+/- 1.8 years respectively. The frequency of illicit drug consumption was 3.5%. Illicit drug users began illicit drug consumption at earlier ages their non user peers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a high frequency of illicit drug consumption among school age children.
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Chile. jrodrigu@med.uchile.cl
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.forename: Ana María
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.forename: Macarena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valdés
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Villalón
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.forename: Catalina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Valenzuela
authors.forename: Sebastián
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cardemil
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002677:Chile / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D015995:Prevalence; D012574:Schools; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology