Substance use among healthcare professionals: A cross-sectional study in Kenya
Open accessAbstract
Substance use among healthcare professionals, including alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, benzodiazepines etc., is a rising concern. The immensity of substance use is not yet clear, though recently, studies conducted on medical students and physician trainees show that 10% to 15% of all healthcare professionals misuse drugs at some point in their career, and that 6% to 8% of physicians have a substance use disorder. Substance use has a direct impact on relationships, physical health, and job performance, and is associated with depression, burnout, and decreased career satisfaction. The aim of this study was to shed light on the prevalence of substance use in healthcare providers in Kenya. We carried out a cross-sectional survey study between May 2023 and August 2023. The participants were healthcare providers in Kenya, including medical doctors and trainees, nurses, and allied healthcare workers, who could be reached via email or WhatsApp. The standardized English questionnaire consisted of questions based on demographics and behavior characteristics, as well as substance use. A total of 1768 healthcare providers across Kenya participated and were included in the analysis. The median age of participants was 36.0 years (IQR: 31.0, 44.0), 45.1% being males, 67.1% were married, 46.9% were from public institution, and 34.0% were doctors. The prevalence of ever using a substance was 51.7%. Of the participants who reported ever using any substance, the most commonly used substance was alcohol (93.7%), followed by cannabis (28.9%) and tobacco products (27.6%). Age, race, marital status, religion, education, institution type, type of healthcare provider, and income were associated with substance use (p<0.05). In conclusion, about half of this convenience sample of healthcare providers in Kenya reported ever using one of these substances. Given the potential negative impact of harmful substance use on health service delivery and on providers’ mental and physical health, institutions and government should devote resources and create constructive interventions to further understand and address the scope of these issues in Kenyan healthcare providers.
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Substance use among workers has serious public health implications, especially from an occupational health perspective, because the working-age population dominates the population abusing drugs.
“Since the working-age population dominates the overall population abusing these drugs, substance use among workers is of serious public health implications, especially from an occupational health perspective [12].”
From Road safety threats and occupational health risk associated with psychoactive substance use and dependence risk among commercial drivers: WHO ASSIST evidence from Ghana (2026) · cites this paper as [12]
The Discussion (page unavailable) says substance use among Kenyan healthcare professionals is a major concern because it can impair care and endanger patients, supporting the occupational-health concern. The Background gives substance-use figures for people aged 15–65, but neither passage establishes that working-age people make up most people who abuse drugs. The paper’s evidence is also specific to healthcare professionals, rather than workers generally. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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- Authors
- Shah, J., Smith, C., Mostert, C., Khakali, L., Merali, Z., & Ali, S. K.
- Affiliations
- Aga Khan University Nairobi (KE)
- Corresponding author
- Shah, Jasmit
- Venue
- PLOS Global Public Health
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2025-03-24
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- e0003863
- ISSN
- 2767-3375 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC11932460
- OpenAlex
- W4408837426
- Cited by
- 4
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4
- FWCI
- 2.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLOS Global Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eCommons - AKU (Aga Khan University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
- Keywords
- substance use, healthcare workers, alcohol consumption, cannabis use, tobacco use, prevalence, Kenya, physicians, nurses, burnout, occupational health, risk factors
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