Prescription stimulant misuse common among college students

Using data from a multi-institutional survey of college students in the United States, researchers at Ohio State University found that nearly 16% of students reported misusing prescription stimulants.

In addition, respondents reported misusing pain medications and sedatives, according to the 2018 College Prescription Drug Study.

“This research is the most comprehensive, in-depth look at prescription drug misuse among college students to date,” Anne E. McDaniel, PhD, executive director in the Center for the Study of Student Life at Ohio State, told Healio Psychiatry. “The study provides insights into how college students think about prescription drug misuse, their patterns of misuse and areas for education and outreach.”

McDaniel and colleagues conducted the College Prescription Drug Study to determine the nonmedical use of prescription drugs among U.S. college students using an online anonymous survey. Participants answered questions about their frequency of nonmedical prescription medication use, access to prescription drugs, reasons for use or misuse, related consequences, knowledge about resources and medication behaviors.

In total, 19,539 students from 26 institutions across the nation responded to the survey. The study revealed that 9.1% of respondents reported misusing pain medications, 9.4% reported misusing sedatives and 15.9% reported misusing stimulants.

When asked about their access to prescription medication, 16%, 20% and 28% of students said it was easy to obtain pain medication, sedatives and stimulants for nonmedical use, respectively. Most prescription medication misusers reported that they often received prescription drugs from friends — 51% for pain medications, 57% for sedatives and 79% for stimulants — according to the report.

The most common reasons for medication misuse included: getting high (43%) and relieving pain (40%) for pain medication misuse; helping with sleep (53%) and easing anxiety (49%) for sedative misuse; and studying or improving grades (79%) for stimulants.

The most common effects of misusing prescription drugs included depression for pain medication users, memory loss for sedative users and improvements in academics for stimulant users. In addition, 35% of students who misused prescription medications reported using illicit drugs in place of prescription drugs; the most common illicit drugs used as replacements were marijuana (92.7%), cocaine (38.3%), hallucinogens (36.7%) and MDMA (28.4%).

Although most respondents knew of resources to help with prescription drug safety, 89.2% reported that they had never taken a workshop, class or had a training on the appropriate ways to use prescription drugs, according to the study. In addition, only 8% of students reported keeping their prescription drugs in a locked, secure place.

“This report will help clinicians dispel myths around prescription drug misuse and promote safe practices around prescription drugs,” McDaniel told Healio Psychiatry.

“First, the majority of college students aren’t misusing, but if they are they begin to misuse either in high school or college,” she continued. “Second, among students who misuse stimulants, the vast majority are misusing to study or improve their grades, so it is important to educate young people about risks associated with that type of misuse. Third, only 8% of students report keeping their prescriptions medications in a locked space, so it is essential to get the message out about safe medication keeping practices.” – by Savannah Demko

References:

Phillips EL, McDaniel AE. College prescription drug study key findings report. https://cssl.osu.edu/posts/documents/cpds-2018-key-findings-final.pdf. Accessed on Sept. 25, 2018.

Disclosure: Healio Psychiatry was unable to confirm any relevant financial disclosures at the time of publication.