Non-medical Use of Prescription Psychostimulants and Academic Performance in Medical Students

Objective: It is well-known that healthy medical students use psychostimulants to improve their cognitive functions and reduce their need for sleep. The main motivation behind this cognitive enhancement is to increase academic performance. However, the literature is not clear enough to support this situation. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with an online survey and 585 students participated. The grade point average number was used to assess the student' academic performance. Additionally, the scale based on self-evaluations was used to assess levels of pharmaceutical knowledge, study performance, academic success, academic anxiety, and study performance. Results: Out of 585 healthy students, 40 (7.3%) admitted to using psychostimulants to enhance their academic performance. However, there was no significant difference in grade point average scores and perceived academic success levels between users and non-users. Nonetheless, most of the users reported that they benefited from taking psychostimulant drugs. Risk factors for non-medical use of prescription psychostimulants included high levels of pharmacology knowledge, smoking, and poor academic performance. Conclusion: Although non-medical use of prescription psychostimulants did not appear to affect academic performance significantly, most students reported positive subjective experiences, which could have a motivational effect. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the benefits and side effects of psychostimulants in healthy young individuals in more detail and to provide them with up-to-date information on this issue.