Prevalence of skin bleaching agents’ usage among youths in tertiary institutions in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Skin bleaching or toning is a serious problem among youths particularly in the contemporary Nigerian society. Skin bleaching agents are rampant and readily available in many cosmetic shops. This study there investigated prevalence of skin bleaching agents’ usage among youths in tertiary institutions in Kwara State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey research was adopted for the study. Simple random sampling techniques was used to select a sample size of 379. The instrument used was entitled “Prevalence of Skin Bleaching Questionnaire (PSBQ)”. The instrument was validated and subjected to a test re-test reliability technique. A co-efficient of 0.79 was obtained using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation statistics. Chi-Square statistical method was used to analyse the data collected at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that the prevalence of skin bleaching agents’ usage among youths in tertiary institutions in Kwara State, Nigeria is high. There is no significant difference in the prevalence of skin bleaching agents’ usage among youths in tertiary institutions in Kwara State, Nigeria based on gender and religion. It was recommended that managements of tertiary institutions should regularly sensitize the youths on what skin bleaching and its agents’ entails; the prevalence as well as some of the resultant effects of engaging in them. Parents should endeavour to be more observant and caution their wards’ as soon as they notice some signs of skin bleaching agent usage.