title: Subgrouping of risky behaviors among Iranian college students: a latent class analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Risky behaviors may interrupt development or cause considerable morbidity or mortality. This study's purpose was to determine subgroups of students based on risky behaviors and assess the prevalence of risky behaviors in each of the subgroups.
  
  
  METHODS
  This anonymous cross-sectional study was carried out in October 2015 and November 2015, with 1,777 students from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, through multistage random sampling method. The data were analyzed by latent class analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence rates of cigarette smoking (more than or equal to ten cigarettes), hookah use (≥1 time/month), and alcohol consumption (≥1 time/month) during the last year were 12.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 10.9-14.0), 11.6% (95% CI: 10.0-13.1), and 4.9% (95% CI: 3.8-5.9), respectively. The prevalence rates of illicit opioids (1.8%, 95% CI: 1.2-2.5), cannabis (1.2%, 95% CI: 0.7-1.7), methamphetamine (1.1%, 95% CI: 0.6-1.6), methylphenidate (2.5%, 95% CI: 1.7-3.2), and extramarital sex (5.5%, 95% CI: 4.5-6.6) over the last year were also estimated. Three latent classes were determined: 1) low risk; 2) cigarette and hookah smoker; and 3) high risk. It is worth mentioning that 3.7% of males and 0.4% of females were in the high risk group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Subgrouping of college students showed that a considerable percentage of them, especially males, were classified into the high risk and cigarette and hookah smoker groups. Appropriate preventive measures that consider multiple different risky behaviors simultaneously are needed for this part of the population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran; Department of Public Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Maragheh University of Medical Sciences, Maragheh.
authors.forename: Saeid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Safiri
authors.affiliation: Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies (INCAS), Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran.
authors.forename: Afarin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rahimi-Movaghar
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health; Department of Research Methodology and Data Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran.
authors.forename: Masud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yunesian
authors.affiliation: Road Traffic Injury Research Center, Department of Statistics & Epidemiology, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Homayoun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sadeghi-Bazargani
authors.affiliation: Department of Research Methodology and Data Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran.
authors.forename: Mansour
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shamsipour
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mansournia
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran.
authors.forename: Akbar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fotouhi
keywords: alcohol drinking; drug abuse; latent class analysis; risk behaviors; sexual behavior; substance abuse