scholarly journals Prevalence of and factors associated with the use of methylphenidate for cognitive enhancement among university students

Author(s):  
Raissa Carolina Fonseca Cândido ◽  
Edson Perini ◽  
Cristiane Menezes de Pádua ◽  
Daniela Rezende Junqueira
2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandro Provenzano ◽  
Omar E. Santangelo ◽  
Alberto Firenze

Author(s):  
Irina Brumboiu ◽  
Alessandro Porrovecchio ◽  
Thierry Peze ◽  
Remy Hurdiel ◽  
Irina Cazacu ◽  
...  

This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the use of neuroenhancers, the motivations and factors associated with their use in French and Romanian university students. Students from two universities in France (Rouen and Opal Coast University) and one in Romania (Cluj-Napoca) were asked to complete a self-administered anonymous questionnaire, either online or on paper, about the use of three different categories of substance: Prescription drugs (methylphenidate, modafinil, and beta-blockers), drugs of abuse (alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, and amphetamines), and soft enhancers (coffee, vitamins, caffeine tablets, and energy drinks). In total, 1110 students were included: The users were 2.2% for prescription drugs, 4.3% for drugs of abuse, and 55.0% for soft enhancers. Students used neuroenhancement to stay awake for study (69.3%), to improve concentration (55.5%), to decrease stress (40.9%), and to improve memory (39.6%). Neuroenhancement was considered to meet expectations by 74.4% of users. The factors associated with the use of drugs of abuse were frequent binge drinking (Adjusted Odds Ratio—AOR: 6.49 [95% CI: 2.53–16.6]), smoking (AOR: 5.50 [95% CI: 2.98–10.14]), having a student job (AOR: 2.42 [95% CI 1.13–5.17]), and being male (AOR: 2.23 [95% CI:1.21–4.11]). No significant associations with eating disorders were detected for any of the three categories of substances. University students reported neuroenhancement with prescription drugs, drugs of abuse, and mainly soft enhancers. These substances were used mainly to increase the waking hours. Educational programs in universities seem to be required in order to increase student awareness of the problems caused by neuroenhancements, and to decrease the associated risks by changing students’ attitudes and beliefs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S I Valencia Almeida ◽  
J E Villegas Domínguez ◽  
E A Villegas Vázquez ◽  
J C Leyva Chipol ◽  
F G Márquez Celedonio

Abstract Introduction In the Mexican - American population, violence occurs between 10 and 40% of initial affective relationships. Veracruz is one of the main Mexican states that suffers violence and is the one with the largest number of femicides (3.44 per 100,000 women). Research question: what are the associated factors in the victimization in the courtship of young university students from the Veracruz - Boca del Río conurbation zone? Methods A cross-sectional, prospective, observational and analytical study was conducted from August to November 2019. University students enrolled in a higher education educational program in public and private universities of Veracruz-Boca del Río, who have had the minus a dating relationship and those who did not agree to participate were excluded. Violence in dating was quantified with the “Questionnaire on Violence in Dating (CUVINO)” (Alfa Cronbach 0.91). The spss v22 software was used to analyze the data. Results 680 participants were included, distributed in private schools (56.47%) and public schools (43.52%), with 444 (65.2%) women and 236 (34.7%) men. The prevalence of dating violence was 74.9%, however, only 21.6% of the participants considered having had such a relationship. The factors associated with dating violence were studying in a private school (OR = 0.62 IC95% 0.4-0.9), witnessing some act of violence in your family (OR = 1.47 IC95% 1.02-2.12), meeting a friend with a relationship violent (OR = 2.0 95% CI 1.4-2.9), believe that abuse exists in courtship (OR = 4.7 95% CI 2.9-7.4) and suspect that you may be in a violent relationship (OR = 4.67 95% CI 2.22- 9.83), while not witnessing any act of violence in your family (OR = 0.61 95% CI 0.4-0.8) is a protective factor to avoid violence in dating, all these values with p < 0.05. It was not associated with violence. Conclusions Violence in dating is associated with behaviors of family members and friends of the violent. Key messages The social situation close to a person influences the violence allowed in their courtship. Young people normalize violence in a relationship, since many of them do not identify it when living it.


Author(s):  
Júlia Vasconcelos de Sá Alves ◽  
Waléria de Paula ◽  
Patrícia Ribeiro Rezende Netto ◽  
Brian Godman ◽  
Renata Cristina Rezende Macedo do Nascimento ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Objective The aim was to evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with anxiety disorders among university students of health sciences at Federal University of Ouro Preto, Brazil. Methods A cross-sectional study between March to June 2019. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire including sociodemographic, academic, family and behavioral issues. The Beck Anxiety Inventory was used to assess anxiety. Estimates were obtained through the prevalence ratio and Poisson multivariate analysis. Results Four hundred and ninety-three students participated with a mean age of 23.1 and predominantly women (79.9%). All students had some degree of anxiety, with the frequency of the severe, moderate and mild forms being 28.0%, 29.8% and 27.0%, respectively. The factors associated with anxiety included having suffered psychological and/or physical violence in childhood, having suicidal thoughts, having a deceased parent, living with parents, being dissatisfied with the course and being in the exam period. Conclusions The prevalence of anxiety was high in our study and family problems prior to entering university seem to significantly influence the degree of anxiety, which may compromise the student’s academic and social performance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten MA Trayner ◽  
Niall Anderson ◽  
J Claire Cameron

Background: In response to an outbreak of severe meningococcal disease caused by serogroup W, the UK introduced the meningococcal ACWY (MenACWY) for adolescents and new university students as a control measure. Objective: To estimate MenACWY vaccine uptake and identify factors associated with uptake, barriers and motivations towards vaccination among university students. Design: Mixed methods including a cross-sectional survey, 7 interviews and 1 focus group. Setting: A Scottish university between April and May 2016. Methods: Inclusion criteria were <25 years and attending university for the first time (MenACWY eligible). All first-year undergraduates ( n = 5,808) were invited to take part in the survey via email, and qualitative participants were recruited through the survey. The final sample consisted of 768 students, representing 13% (768/5,808) of the target population. Results: MenACWY uptake among the sample was 71.5% (549/768). Older students (22–24 years) were less likely than younger students (18 years) to have been vaccinated [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.21; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.06–0.77], and male students were less likely to be vaccinated than female students (aOR = 0.667; 95% CI = 0.45–0.96). In comparison to international students, domestic students had a significantly higher odds of vaccination (aOR = 3.89; 95% CI = 2.64–5.72). Communication barriers were most frequently identified as reasons for non-vaccination. Most vaccination occurred before starting university (76.7%, 421/549), highlighting access barriers. Meningococcal disease knowledge was low; a significant association ( p < 0.001) was found between knowledge and vaccination uptake. Some participants were unaware of their vaccination history. They perceived meningococcal disease as severe, but disease risk as low. Key motivations were knowledge of the benefits of vaccines, influence of others and social responsibility. Conclusion: Students outside main UK-based, core age cohorts were under-immunised and focused efforts are needed to improve vaccination rates. Future student vaccination programmes could focus on raising awareness of the serious implications of meningococcal disease. Additional benefit may be gained from emphasising the benefits of vaccinations for society as a whole.


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