Cognitive enhancers: consumption of psychostimulants in medicine

Psychostimulants are drugs that can be used to improve cognitive performance by students and health care professionals. This trend might establish a public health issue. The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence of psychostimulant use in medical students and resident doctors, and to id...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Latella, Andres, Sanchez de Paz, María Pilar, Mata-Suarez, Santiago Miguel, Bignone, Inés, Lerman, Damián, Rojas, Galeno
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:Colombia
Institución:Corporación Universidad de la Costa
Repositorio:Repositorio REDICUC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.cuc.edu.co:11323/10141
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11323/10141
https://repositorio.cuc.edu.co/
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Psychostimulants
Drugs
Pharmacoepidemiology
Modafinil
Medical students
Psicoestimulantes
Fármacos
Farmacoepidemiología
Modafinilo
Estudiantes de medicina
Descripción
Sumario:Psychostimulants are drugs that can be used to improve cognitive performance by students and health care professionals. This trend might establish a public health issue. The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence of psychostimulant use in medical students and resident doctors, and to identify consumption related risk factors. The study was conducted through a self-administered, anonymous online survey. 355 respondents were included, 27% (n = 96) were resident doctors, 70.4% (n = 250) students and 2.5% (n = 9) specialists. 17.4% (n = 62) opted for psychostimulant drugs of which modafinil was the most chosen. The most desired effect was to improve wakefulness 83.6% (n = 51). The average age for consumers was 27.31±3.08 (p = 0.033). The multivariate analysis revealed that the predictive variables with highest risk of consumption were: having read the package insert (OR = 5.2; p = 0.0001), previous use of benzodiazepines (OR = 3.75; p = 0.045) and having considered ethical its use (OR=1.03; p = 0.0001). According to literature, the prevalent use of psychostimulants by doctors under training in our population might be higher than other countries. This study is an important source of information for health authorities as it highlights unrestricted access and inappropriate use of psychostimulants.