Psychostimulants consumption for neuroenhancement among medical students from National University of Córdoba
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31053/1853.0605.v77.n4.28166Keywords:
central nervous system stimulants, caffeine, modafinil, methylphenidate, studentsAbstract
Objectives: To determine prevalence of psychostimulants (PS) consumption among medical students of National University of Córdoba (UNC) trying to improve their concentration and alertness when studying as well as potentially related factors. Methods: Epidemiological observational, analytic, prospective and transversal study, with a quali-quantitative approach. The population included all medical students of FCM-UNC in 2018. An anonimous 23 questions’ survey was designed. Absolute and relative frequency was calculated for qualitative variables; and mead, median, mode and range were obtained for quantitative ones. InfoStat software was used and Chi-square and Student t tests were applied when appropriate. Results: 99,15% consumed a PS, being coffee predominant in 93,05%, mate 91,02%, tea 74,75%, chocolate 70%, soft drinks 58,64%, energy drinks 37,97%, tobacco 22,71%, Cafiaspirina® 13%, Arriba!quenotebochen® 9%, coca leaves 8%. 8,3% referred modafinil and methylphenidate consumption and 45% of them perceived an improvement of their academic performance after this. Consuming these drugs was associated to masculine sex (p=0,0275), older age, (p˂0,0001), not professing any religion (p=0,0004), higher courses (p˂0,0001), more academic difficulty (p˂0,0001), delay in the degree (p=0,0009), less than 4 hours of sleep before and exam (p=0,0002), psychological or psychiatric diagnosis (p=0,0017), anxiety disorder (p=0,0068), depressive disorder (p=0,0275) and higher consumption level of caffeine (p˂0,0268). No association was found with working, practicing sports or living with their families. Conclusion: PS consumption to improve academic performance is a usual practice among the students who integrated the sample.
Downloads
References
(2) Dubljević V, Ryan CJ. Cognitive enhancement with methylphenidate and modafinil: conceptual advances and societal implications. Neurosci Neuroecon. 2015;4:25-33.
(3) Espejo Fernández E. Neurobiología de la adicción a psicoestimulantes. Rev Neurol. 2006;43:147-154.
(4) Thierry FC, Broers B. The Health Effect of Psychostimulants: A Literature Review. Pharmaceuticals. 2010;3:2333-2361.
(5) Arria A, Wish ED. Nonmedical use of prescription stimulants among students. Pediatric Ann. 2006;35(8):565-571.
(6) Finger G, Rodriguez E, Falavigna A. Use of methylphenidate among medical students: a systematic review. Rev Assoc Med Bras. 2013;59(3):285-289.
(7) Fernández A, Mascayano F, Lips W, Painel A, Norambuena J, Madrid E. Efectos del modafinilo en el desempeño atencional, memoria a corto plazo y funciones ejecutivas en estudiantes universitarios: un ensayo aleatorizado. Medwave. 2015(5):e6166.
(8) Minzenberg M, Carter C. Modafinil: A Review of Neurochemical Actions and Effects on Cognition. Neuropsychopharmacol. 2008;33:1477–1502.
(9) Morton W, Stockton G. Methylphenidate abuse and psychiatric side effects. J Clin Psychiatry. 2000;2(5):159-164.
(10) Acevedo Urrego M, Arango Orozco L, Blandón Montoya L, Buelvas Soto L, Carmona Velasquez DV, Castaño Castrillón JJ, Castro Rocha BC, Serna JC, Trujillo Sandoval KS, Arango C. Consumo de anfetaminas, para mejorar el rendimiento académico, en estudiantes de la Universidad de Manizales. Archivos de Medicina. 2009. 9(1).
(11) Asencio F, Cardemil F, Betancour P, Celedón F, Martínez F. Prevalencia y factores asociados al uso de drogas, fármacos y otras sustancias por estudiantes de medicina para aumentar el rendimiento académico. CIMEL. 2009;14 (2), 87-92.
(12) Carballo JL, Marin M, Pons C, Espada J, Piqueras J, Orgilés M. Diferencias en el consumo de sustancias psicoactivas y psicofármacos entre estudiantes de medicina y psicología en época de exámenes. Salud y Drogas. 2011;11(1):19–30.
(13) Castro León DE, Chacon Jimbo GJ. Uso de psicoestimulantes durante épocas de estrés académico por estudiantes de pregrado de la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas de la Universidad de Cuenca 2008-2009. Ecuador. [citado 2019 Nov 23]. Disponible en: http://dspace.ucuenca.edu.ec/handle/123456789/19712.
(14) Estévez García RS, Ramos Cevallos DA. Prevalencia de consumo de sustancias psicoestimulantes y factores asociados, para aumentar el rendimiento académico en estudiantes de primero a décimo nivel de la Facultad de Medicina de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador desde noviembre de 2013 a enero de 2014. [citado 2019 Dic 08]. Disponible en: http://repositorio.puce.edu.ec/bitstream/handle/22000/7336/11.27.001623.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=y
(15) Gloria-Garcés C, Graziani Giacchero Vedana K. Consumo de estimulantes del sistema nervioso central en estudiantes de enfermería y medicina de una universidad chilena. SMAD. 2013. 9(2), 64-69.
(16) Mazzoglio y Nabar MJ, Algieri RD, Dogliotti CB, Gazzotti AM, Jiménez-Villarruel HN, Rey LM. Utilización de sustancias psicoactivas en alumnos de anatomía y su implicación en el aprendizaje. Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Educación Médica. 2011;14(2):129-132.
(17) Micoulaud-Franchi JA, MacGregor A, Fond G. A preliminary study on cognitive enhancer consumption behaviors and motives of French Medicine and Pharmacology students. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2014;18(13):1875-1878.
(18) Vargo EJ, Petróczi A. “It Was Me on a Good Day”: Exploring the Smart Drug Use Phenomenon in England. Front Psychol. 2016;7:779.
(19) Teter CJ, McCabe SE, Cranford JA, Boyd CJ, Guthrie SK. Prevalence and motivations for the illicit use of prescription stimulants in an undergraduate student sample. J Am Coll Health. 2005;53:253–62.
(20) Teter CJ, McCabe SE, LaGrange K, Cranford J, Boyd CJ. Illicit use of specific prescription stimulants among college students: prevalence, motives, and routes of administration. Pharmacotherapy. 2006;26(10):1501-1510.
(21) Riaño CE, Palomino M. Diseño y elaboración de un cuestionario acorde con el método Delphi para seleccionar laboratorios virtuales (LV). Sophia. 2015. 11(2),129-141.
(22) infostat.com.ar [Internet]. Di Rienzo JA, Casanoves F, Balzarini MG, Gonzalez L, Tablada M, Robledo CW. InfoStat versión 2018. Centro de Transferencia InfoStat, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina. [citado 2019 Nov 25]. Disponible en: http://www.infostat.com.ar
(23) cafiaspirina.com.ar [Internet]. Cafiaspirina. Bayer. 2016. [citado 2019 Nov 25]. Disponible en: https://www.cafiaspirina.com.ar/prospecto/prospecto-cafiaspirina.pdff
(24) natufarma.com [Internet]. Arriba!quenotebochen. Natufarma. 2019. [citado 2019 Nov 24]. Disponible en: https://www.natufarma.com/portfolio-view/arriba/
(25) Burris KP, Harte FM, Michael Davidson P, Neal Stewart Jr. C, Zivanovic S. Composition and Bioactive Properties of Yerba Mate (llex paraguariensis A. St.-Hil.): A Review. Chilean journal of agricultural research. 2012. 72;(2):268-275.
(26) Malinauskas B, Aeby V, Overton R, Carpenter-Aeby T, Barber-Heidal K. A survey of energy drinks consumption patterns among college students. Nutr J. 2007;6(35):1-7.
(27) Ramón-Salvador DM, Cámara-Flores JM, Cabral-León FJ, Juárez-Rojop IE, Díaz-Zagoya JC. Consumo de bebidas energéticas en una población de estudiantes universitarios del estado de Tabasco, México. Salud en Tabasco. 2013. 19;(1):10-14.
(28) anmatvademecum.servicios.pami.org.ar [Internet]. ANMAT. Vademécum Nacional de Medicamentos. [citado 2019 Nov 23]. Disponible en: http://anmatvademecum.servicios.pami.org.ar/index.html
(29) anmat.gov.ar [Internet]. ANMAT. Decreto 9763/64. Ministerio de Asistencia Social y Salud Pública. [citado 2019 Nov 23]. Disponible en: http://www.anmat.gov.ar/webanmat/Legislacion/Medicamentos/Texto_Actualizado_Decreto_1964_9763.pdf
(30) anmat.gov.ar [Internet]. ANMAT. Listado de sustancias controladas. Psicotrópicos. [citado 2019 Nov 23]. Disponible en: http://www.anmat.gov.ar/ssce/Psicotropicos_2016.pdf
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The Faculty of Medical Sciences Journal (RFCM) subscribes to the Open Access policy and does not charge authors fees for publishing, nor does it charge readers fees for accessing published articles (APC).
