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Nonmedical stimulant use increasing in young adults, despite unchanged prescribing trends

Trends in prescriptions for stimulants did not correspond with trends in nonmedical use and ED visits, indicating increased nonmedical stimulant use may not be wholly attributed to prescribing trends.

“The number of prescriptions for Adderall has fallen and yet we are seeing more medical problems from its use,” study researcher Lian-Yu Chen, MD, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, said in a press release. “This suggests that the main driver of misuse and ED visits related to the drug is the result of diversion, people taking medication that is legitimately prescribed to someone else. Physicians need to be much more aware of what is happening and take steps to prevent it from continuing.”

To assess temporal trends in prescriptions, nonmedical use and ED visits involving prescription stimulants in the United States, researchers analyzed data from three national surveys conducted between 2006 and 2011 for dextroamphetamine-amphetamine and methylphenidate among adolescents and adults.

Among adolescents, treatment visits involving dextroamphetamine-amphetamine and methylphenidate decreased over time and nonmedical dextroamphetamine-amphetamine use remained stable during the study period. Nonmedical methylphenidate use declined by 54.4% in 6 years.

ED visits involving both dextroamphetamine-amphetamine and methylphenidate remained stable among adolescents.

In adults, treatment visits involving dextroamphetamine-amphetamine did not change over time, while nonmedical use increased by 67.1% and ED visits increased by 155.9%. These trends involving methylphenidate did not change over time.

Friends and relatives were a major source for nonmedical use of both medications across age groups. Two-thirds of friends and relatives obtained medication from a physician.

“The growing problem is among young adults,” Ramin Mojtabai, MD, MPH, PhD, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, said in the release. “In college, especially, these drugs are used as study-aid medication to help students stay up all night and cram. Our sense is that a sizeable proportion of those who use them believe these medications make them smarter and more capable of studying. We need to educate this group that there could be serious adverse effects from taking these drugs and we don’t know much at all about their long-term health effects.” – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: Chen reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a list of all authors’ relevant financial disclosures.