Academic performance and use of psychoactive drugs among healthcare students at a university in southern Brazil: cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: People have been using psychoactive substances for a long time. Over the last few years, this practice has spread among university students, who use these substances to improve their academic performance, relieve stress and increase concentration and memory. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the use of psychoactive drugs among healthcare students at a higher education institution in the city of Passo Fundo (RS), Brazil, and to ascertain the associated demographic and lifestyle factors. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study in a higher education institution. METHODS: We included 287 undergraduate medicine and dentistry students in this study. They answered a self-administered questionnaire regarding sociodemographic, lifestyle and health variables. The statistical analysis used univariate and bivariate analyses with Pearson's chi-square test (P-value < 0.05). ­Multivariate analyses were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and their respective 95% confidence intervals. The SPSS software, version 20.0, was used. RESULTS: The prevalence of use of psychoactive substances among the students was 24.7%. Among these students, high frequencies of psychoactive drugs had been prescribed by physicians (95.8%) and for the purpose of relaxation or stress relief (73.2%). Women, medical students (compared with dental students) and participants with lower academic performance were more likely to use psychoactive drugs. After the multivariate adjustment, the "course" and "academic performance" remained associated with use of psychoactive drugs. CONCLUSION: There was high prevalence of psychoactive drug use among the students at the higher education institution investigated. Some variables (female sex, medical students and low academic performance) were associated with the outcome.

Malformações congênitas em crianças nascidas de mães expostas ao tabagismo e/ou alcoolismo: uma revisão literária / Congenital malformations in children born to mothers exposed to smoking and/or alcoholism: a literary review

Introdução: drogas lícitas, tais como fumo e álcool, quando utilizadas por mulheres durante a gestação, são consideradas como potentes teratógenos, comprometendo assim o desenvolvimento normal de órgãos e/ou sistemas do feto. Objetivo: objetivou-se no presente estudo, realizar um apanhado na literatura que exponha a relação de ocorrências de malformações congênitas em crianças nascidas de mães usuárias das drogas citadas. Metodologia: para tanto foi realizado busca sistemática e integrativa nas bases de dados PubMed Central: PMC, Science Direct e Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS). Os termos utilizados para a busca em português foram "Álcool", "Fumo" e "Tabaco" associadas à "Malformações Congênitas"; em inglês, "Alcohol", "Tobacco", "Cigarette Smoke" e "Congenital Abnormalities". Resultados: foram selecionados 26 artigos que trataram do assunto. Destes, 08 relatavam consumo das duas drogas, 17 descreviam uso só de cigarros e 01 somente de álcool. Foi apontado defeitos congênitos tais como: cardíacos, cerebral, lábio leporino, respiratório, criptorquidia, psicomotor, hipodontia, membros, fissura oropalatina, distúrbios do tubo neural, microtia, pé torto, hérnia diafragmática. Conclusão: os achados favoreceram a associação direta entre as drogas lícitas, cigarro e álcool, com diversas malformações durante o desenvolvimento embrionário.

Introduction: licit drugs, such as smoking and alcohol, when consumed by women during pregnancy, are considered to be potent teratogens, thereby compromising the normal development of fetal organs and / or systems. Objective: the objective of this study was to make a survey in the literature that exposes the relation of occurrences of congenital malformations in children born to mothers who used the mentioned drugs. Methodology: for that, a systematic and integrative search was performed in PubMed Central databases: PMC, Science Direct and Virtual Health Library (VHL). The terms used for the Portuguese search were "Alcohol", "Smoke" and "Tobacco" associated with "Congenital Malformations"; in English, "Alcohol", "Tobacco", "Cigarette Smoke" and "Congenital Abnormalities". We selected 26 articles that dealt with the subject. Results: of these 08 they consumed the two drugs, 17 made use of only cigarettes and 01 was consuming only alcohol. Congenital defects such as: cardiac, cerebral, cleft lip, respiratory, cryptorchidism, psychomotor, hypodontia, limbs, oropalatine fissure, neural tube disorders, microtia, crooked foot, diaphragmatic hernia. Conclusion: the findings favored the direct association between licit drugs, cigarettes and alcohol, with several malformations during embryonic development.