RESUMO
Background University students are at a higher risk of using cognitive enhancers and psychoactive substances. Depression is associated with a noticeable decline in academic performance and can increase the risk of substance use. Due to sociopolitical issues, the use of cognitive enhancers and psychoactive substances among Palestinians has spread in the last decade. However, depression among tobacco and caffeine users remains underrecognized and neglected. Methodology A self-administrated questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory were used to assess the association of depression and the use of cognitive enhancers and psychoactive substances among university students at An-Najah National University in 2020. Results The response rate to the questionnaires was 78.8% (n = 1,051; 38.8% males, 61.2% females). The overall prevalence of depression was high (30.6% males, 34.7% females). The prevalence of cigarette smoking (39.2% males, 3.9% females), waterpipe smoking (43.1% males, 21.6% females), energy drink consumption (59.6% males, 29.7% females), coffee consumption (85.5% for each gender), tea consumption, and chocolate consumption was high, with significant differences in accordance to gender and academic fields. The multinomial logistic regression results revealed that cigarette smokers were more likely to have a higher risk of severe (odds ratio [OR] = 4.5, p = 0.001), moderate (OR = 3.27, p < 0.001), and mild depression (OR = 2.24, p = 0.002) than non-smokers. Severe depression was less prevalent among medical students than health sciences and non-medical students (OR = 0.215, p = 0.015). Moreover, males were less likely to have moderate (OR = 0.5, p = 0.012) and mild (OR = 0.48, p = 0.001) depression than females. Conclusions Overall, the results of this study revealed the high prevalence of depression and the detrimental effects of smoking on students. Moreover, the findings suggest the urgent need to address depression and risk factors among Palestinian university students by educating them about mental health, identifying high-risk students, and offering easily accessible psychological help. Further, it is crucial to broaden the focus of studies to include students from various academic fields instead of focusing on medical students.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: University students, who are at risk of eating disorders (ED), are more liable to use cognitive enhancers and psychostimulants to improve their cognitive functions and lose weight. ED in Palestinian male students is a neglected health issue. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and the association between ED and cognitive enhancers, and psychostimulants use among An-Najah National University students (ANNU). METHODS: In a cross-sectional study conducted in 2020 at ANNU, 1047 students completed anonymous surveys for cognitive enhancers practice, the Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT-26), Sick, Control, One, Fat and FOOD (SCOFF) screening tests. RESULTS: The prevalence of ED among ANNU students was 21.2% based on EAT-26 (17.1% in males, 23.8% in females) and 31.5% based on SCOFF (24.0% in males, 36.3% in females). The binary logistic regression revealed that students at risk to have ED were water-pipe smokers (OR: 1.471, p-value 0.047), especially males, while students who were less likely to have ED were males (OR: 0.341, p-value<0.001), coffee users (OR: 0.581, p-value 0.014) and chocolate users (OR: 0.530, p-value 0.041) than nonusers. Moreover, the risk of ED increased with increasing body mass index (p-value<0.01). Clinical medical students showed the lowest prevalence (11.1%) compared to preclinical (22.5%), health sciences (23.7%), and non-medical students (20.9%) (p-value 0.059). CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight water-pipe smoking as a significant health problem in males with ED, which may require unique treatment and prevention strategies. Moreover, coffee and chocolate consumption were associated with decreased risk of ED, only among males. The gender-gap in ED prevalence was very narrow compared to international results. These results prompt the need to focus on both genders in future studies instead of females. They also suggest the urgent need to address ED among Palestinian university students by educating students about mental health, identifying high-risk students, and offering easily accessible psychological help.
RESUMO
Many athletes suffering from musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction will use some types of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) or Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence, awareness, and behaviors related to NSAIDs and CAM use in Palestinian student-athletes. This was a cross-sectional study that involved 227 students from the Faculty of Sports at An-Najah National University. A self-administered questionnaire was designed in Arabic; it had six sections and a number of open-ended and closed-ended questions. SPSS version 21 was used to analyze the results. Descriptive statistics (i.e., frequencies, percentages) were used to describe the results including demographic characteristics. Overall, 79.3% of the student-athletes had used NSAIDs in the past and 89.0% had used CAM. The CAM methods used by participants were: herbals (57.3%), supplements (32.2%), cupping (11.9%), acupuncture (2.2%), massage (51.5%), yoga (4.0%), praying (18.1%) and ice packs (20.7%). The herbs commonly used by participants were: sage (20.7%), Menthol (21.1%), Aniseed (10.6%), Chamomile (4.0%), Cinnamon (1.3%), Turmeric (4.0%), Ginger (35.7%), and a mixture of herbs (18.5%); Regarding the perceived advantages of CAM use, 82.2% thought that CAM is beneficial for their health, 79.7% thought CAM is safe, 71.3% used it because of the successful experience of others, and 60.9% used it because it's more available than medical therapy. Among NSAIDs users, 17.2% reported recent use of over-the-counter (OTC) NSAIDs, and 33.9% of users used prescribed NSAIDs within the last three months for sport-related reasons. When asked to report any side-effect of NSAIDs they knew, only 22.6% were able to list at least one side-effect. This study shows a high prevalence of NSAIDs and CAM use among student-athletes in Palestine with a low level of knowledge and awareness of their side-effects. Therefore, education strategies that focus on enhancing and improving student-athletes' knowledge of the proper use and the possible side-effects of NSAIDs and CAM are needed.
