title: Prevalence and factors associated with methamphetamine use among adult substance abusers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The use of methamphetamine and other drugs among young adults has been a theme of growing interest and concern on the part of researchers and health associations. This paper reports recent use of methamphetamine and its relation with some demographic variables among substance users in west of Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was carried out on 559 substance users of Hamadan, western Iran recruited through a snowball sampling method in 2012. The participants received a self-administered questionnaire contained questions regarding substance use, reasons of drug abuse and pattern of MA use. Data were analyzed using SPSS software using Chi-square, Fisher's exact tests and logistic regression methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A number of 248 (44.4%) people reported a history of having ever used methamphetamine and the mean drug abuse initiation age was 17.8 (SD= 3.9). According to the history, reducing effect of previous drug and resurfacing of new drug were common reasons associated with the changes in previous drug to use of methamphetamine. In multivariate analysis, 'being single' and higher school were obtained as independent predictors of methamphetamine use (P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Methamphetamine use is common among adult substance abusers in Iran. Demographic, behavioral and psychosocial correlates of methamphetamine use identified in this research may be helpful for the development of preventive interventions.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Behavioral Disorders and Substance Abuse, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barati
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Behavioral Disorders and Substance Abuse, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Islamic Republic of Iran. ahmadpanah@umsha.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ahmadpanah
authors.affiliation: Modeling of non-communicable Disease Research Center, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Soltanian
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019969:Amphetamine-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008694:Methamphetamine; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D008694:Methamphetamine
keywords: Drug Users; Methamphetamine; Psychotropic Drugs; Substance-Related Disorders