2019, Vol. 7, Issue 5, Part B

author(s)
Rashad Mohammed Alsanosy

abstract
The current study was designed to investigate the demography, pattern of use, individual and integrated determinants of chronic use, withdrawal symptoms and reward of Khat amongst regular users in Saudi Arabia. This community-based and cross-sectional study was performed in 2016. Data were collected from 514 regular users with structured and self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive analysis, Chi-squared test of association, factor analysis and logistic regression were performed using SPSS software. Variables included in the logistic regression model were marital status, residence, age of starting Khat chewing, chewing experience (Years), time of chewing session and post-session action of Khat (time in hours). Principal components analysis (PCA) with orthogonal transformation was used to check possibly correlated variables. Majority of the respondents are married, possess pre-university education, are employed, less than 42 years old and live in urban areas. The average of age of starting Khat chewing is 18.57±3.09 years old. The average of Khat chewing experience is 15±9.48 years and about 40% are using it on daily basis. Post-session effect of Khat was observed to last for 2.17±1.5 hours. Sense of vigor and alertness and sexual performance improvement were felt by 97.5% and 64.4%, respectively. 434(84.4%) of the sample rewarded euphoria and relaxation and a sense of complacency upon use of Khat. PCA revealed the extraction of four factors which explained 69.14% of the total variance expected in the questions regarding rewarding. It is observed that 69.3%, 47.7%, 42.4%, 46.7% and 30.7%, experienced hostility towards others, insomnia, violence towards others, anorexia and weight loss, respectively. Factor analysis showed the extraction of four factors which explained 69.99% of the total variance expected in the questions regarding withdrawal symptoms of Khat cessation. Modeling of chronic use revealed a significant dependence on age of starting Khat chewing and chewing experience (years). This study gave new ideas regarding Khat withdrawal symptoms and reward in Saudi Arabia. It provides a significant task in depicting information to shape coherent awareness for preventive and clinical interventions.