Polydrug use among college students in Brazil: a nationwide survey

Autor(es)

Lúcio Garcia de Oliveira ^[1] ; Denis Guilherme Alberghini ^[2] ; Bernardo dos Santos ^[2] ; Arthur Guerra de Andrade ^{[3, 4, 5]}

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Universidade de São Paulo. School of Medicine. Department of Legal Medicine, Ethics, and Occupational Health and Department of Psychiatry - Brasil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Math & Stat, BR-09500900 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Legal Med Eth & Occupat Hlth, BR-09500900 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Sch Med, Dept Psychiat, BR-09500900 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[5] Fac Med ABC, Dept Psychiat, Santo Andre, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria; v. 35, n. 3, p. 221-230, 2013-09-00.

Resumo

Objective: To estimate the frequency of polydrug use (alcohol and illicit drugs) among college students and its associations with gender and age group. Methods: A nationwide sample of 12,544 college students was asked to complete a questionnaire on their use of drugs according to three time parameters (lifetime, past 12 months, and last 30 days). The co-use of drugs was investigated as concurrent polydrug use (CPU) and simultaneous polydrug use (SPU), a subcategory of CPU that involves the use of drugs at the same time or in close temporal proximity. Results: Almost 26% of college students reported having engaged in CPU in the past 12 months. Among these students, 37% had engaged in SPU. In the past 30 days, 17% college students had engaged in CPU. Among these, 35% had engaged in SPU. Marijuana was the illicit drug mostly frequently used with alcohol (either as CPU or SPU), especially among males. Among females, the most commonly reported combination was alcohol and prescribed medications. Conclusions: A high proportion of Brazilian college students may be engaging in polydrug use. College administrators should keep themselves informed to be able to identify such use and to develop educational interventions to prevent such behavior. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 08/55550-7 - Prevalencia, motivacoes e implicacoes do "uso multiplo de drogas" um levantamento nacional entre estudantes universitarios
• Beneficiário: Lúcio Garcia de Oliveira
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado