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      Brain doping: stimulants use and misuse among a sample of Italian college students

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          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Summary

          Introduction.

          The non-medical use of prescription stimulants (NMUPS) has become the subject of great interest for its diffusion among university students, who abuse these substances to cope with the increasing load of academic stress. NMUPS has been widely investigated in the U.S. due to its increasing trend; this behavior, however, has also been reported in Europe. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine stimulants misuse in a Northern Italian geographic area, identifying possible developments of the phenomenon in Italy.

          Methods.

          To evaluate academic and extra-academic NMUPS (Methylphenidate and Amphetamines), an anonymous multiplechoice questionnaire was administrated to a sample of Bachelor's and Master's degrees students attending a University North East of Italy. Data elaboration and CI 95% were performed with Excel software 2013. Fisher's exact tests were performed using Graph- Pad INSTAT software.

          Results.

          Data from 899 correctly completed questionnaires were analyzed in this study. 11.3% of students reported NMUPS, with an apparent greater use by students aged 18-22 years (73.5%) and without any statistically significant gender predominance. Fifty-seven point eight percent of students used stimulants at most five times in six months, and the most frequent academic and extra-academic reasons to use them were respectively to improve concentration while studying (51.0%) and sports performance (25.5%). NMUPS was higher among working students than nonworking ones (p < 0.05), suggesting a use of stimulants to cope with stress by the first ones.

          Conclusions.

          These exploratory and preliminary data suggest that NMUPS is quite relevant in Northern Italy, suggesting a need for preventive and monitoring measures, as well as future analysis via a longitudinal multicenter study.

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          Most cited references46

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          Non-medical use of prescription stimulants among US college students: prevalence and correlates from a national survey.

          To examine the prevalence rates and correlates of non-medical use of prescription stimulants (Ritalin, Dexedrine or Adderall) among US college students in terms of student and college characteristics. A self-administered mail survey. One hundred and nineteen nationally representative 4-year colleges in the United States. A representative sample of 10 904 randomly selected college students in 2001. Self-reports of non-medical use of prescription stimulants and other substance use behaviors. The life-time prevalence of non-medical prescription stimulant use was 6.9%, past year prevalence was 4.1% and past month prevalence was 2.1%. Past year rates of non-medical use ranged from zero to 25% at individual colleges. Multivariate regression analyses indicated non-medical use was higher among college students who were male, white, members of fraternities and sororities and earned lower grade point averages. Rates were higher at colleges located in the north-eastern region of the US and colleges with more competitive admission standards. Non-medical prescription stimulant users were more likely to report use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and other risky behaviors. The findings of the present study provide evidence that non-medical use of prescription stimulants is more prevalent among particular subgroups of US college students and types of colleges. The non-medical use of prescription stimulants represents a high-risk behavior that should be monitored further and intervention efforts are needed to curb this form of drug use.
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            Misuse and diversion of stimulants prescribed for ADHD: a systematic review of the literature.

            Recent studies have provided variable information on the frequency and context of diversion and the use of nonprescribed and prescribed stimulant medications in adolescent and young adult populations. The purpose of this systematic review of the literature is to evaluate the extent and characteristics of stimulant misuse and diversion in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and non-ADHD individuals. We conducted a systematic review of the literature of available studies looking at misuse and diversion of prescription ADHD medications using misuse, diversion, stimulants, illicit use, and ADHD medications as key words for the search. We identified 21 studies representing 113,104 subjects. The studies reported rates of past year nonprescribed stimulant use to range from 5% to 9% in grade school- and high school-age children and 5% to 35% in college-age individuals. Lifetime rates of diversion ranged from 16% to 29% of students with stimulant prescriptions asked to give, sell, or trade their medications. Recent work suggests that whites, members of fraternities and sororities, individuals with lower grade point averages, use of immediate-release compared to extended-release preparations, and individuals who report ADHD symptoms are at highest risk for misusing and diverting stimulants. Reported reasons for use, misuse, and diversion of stimulants include to concentrate, improve alertness, "get high," or to experiment. The literature suggests that individuals both with and without ADHD misuse stimulant medications. Recent work has begun to document the context, motivation, and demographic profile of those most at risk for using, misusing, and diverting stimulants. The literature highlights the need to carefully monitor high-risk individuals for the use of nonprescribed stimulants and educate individuals with ADHD as to the pitfalls of the misuse and diversion of the stimulants.
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              The perverse effects of competition on scientists' work and relationships.

              Competition among scientists for funding, positions and prestige, among other things, is often seen as a salutary driving force in U.S. science. Its effects on scientists, their work and their relationships are seldom considered. Focus-group discussions with 51 mid- and early-career scientists, on which this study is based, reveal a dark side of competition in science. According to these scientists, competition contributes to strategic game-playing in science, a decline in free and open sharing of information and methods, sabotage of others' ability to use one's work, interference with peer-review processes, deformation of relationships, and careless or questionable research conduct. When competition is pervasive, such effects may jeopardize the progress, efficiency and integrity of science.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                J Prev Med Hyg
                J Prev Med Hyg
                Pacini
                Journal of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene
                Pacini Editore SRL
                1121-2233
                2421-4248
                June 2017
                : 58
                : 2
                : E130-E140
                Affiliations
                [1 ] Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Hygiene and Environmental Occupational Preventive Medicine Division, University of Verona, Italy;
                [2 ] Postgraduate Specialization in "Hygiene and Preventive Medicine", University of Verona, Italy
                Author notes
                Correspondence: Prof.ssa Silvia Majori, Dipartimento di Diagnostica e Sanità Pubblica, Sezione di Igiene e Medicina Preventiva Ambientale e Occupazionale, Università degli Studi di Verona, Istituti Biologici II, strada Le Grazie, 8 - 37134 Verona, Italy - Tel. +39 045 802 7653 (segr. +39 045 802 7652 e 045 802 7271) - Email: silvia.majori@ 123456univr.it

                Authors' Contributions

                SM: design, organization and supervision of the study. Drafting of the text. DG: data analysis, participation in the drafting of the article, statistical analysis. SP: data analysis, participation in the drafting of the article, statistical analysis. JP: data analysis, participation in the drafting of the article. AS: preparation and validation of the questionnaire, distribution of the questionnaire, data collection and data entry in the database. SF: preparation and validation of the questionnaire, distribution of the questionnaire, data collection and data entry in the database. EC: preparation and validation of the questionnaire.

                Article
                Pacini
                5584082
                28900353
                01c8ac12-df3c-44f7-ae54-117a5b93febc
                © Copyright by Pacini Editore SRL, Pisa, Italy

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License, which permits for noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any digital medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not altered in any way. For details, please refer to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

                History
                : 23 July 2016
                : 16 March 2017
                Categories
                Original Article

                stimulants,doping,college students
                stimulants, doping, college students

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