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. 2023 Apr 17:17:11782218231162827.
doi: 10.1177/11782218231162827. eCollection 2023.

Quantitative Survey on Prevalence of Prescription Pain Medications and Stimulants Use in Young Adults

Sreelekha Prakash  1 , Yulong Gu  1 , Michele Previti  1
Affiliations

Quantitative Survey on Prevalence of Prescription Pain Medications and Stimulants Use in Young Adults

Sreelekha Prakash et al. Subst Abuse. .

Abstract

Background: Prescription drug use including pain relievers and stimulants has been a growing problem in young adults and the issue has been a public health concern for years.

Methods: This Quantitative Cross-sectional study aimed to collect preliminary data regarding prescription opioid use, prescription stimulant drug use and overdose treatment knowledge in young adults between 18 and 24 years old in a southern New Jersey university through administering an online survey.

Results: Of the 1663 students who completed the survey, 33% reported using prescription pain relievers and 15% reported using prescription stimulant drugs. Stimulant drug users were found to be more likely to use prescription pain relievers (49%) as compared to non-stimulant users (30%). Furthermore, students with overdose treatment knowledge of opioids were more likely to report misuse of prescription drugs (15%) than students with less knowledge (8%).

Conclusions: This study reiterates the increasing usage of prescription drugs and stimulant use among college students. There is a need for effective education strategies to inform students about the prescription medication uses and misuse to reduce nonmedical use of prescription medications.

Keywords: Drug use; prescription drugs; stimulant use; young adults.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Prescription pain relievers used and reported by students.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Prescription stimulant use reported by students.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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