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Consumption of medicines, alcohol, tobacco and cannabis among university students: a 2-year follow-up

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Public Health

Abstract

Objective

To determine the prevalence of medicine consumption among Spanish university students and its association with alcohol, tobacco and cannabis consumption.

Method

We carried out a cohort study among Spanish university students (n = 2,700). Consumption of medicines during the previous 15 days, risky alcohol use, and tobacco and cannabis consumption were measured using questionnaire. Logistic regression models were generated using consumption of medicines as dependent variables at the beginning of the study and for a 2-year follow-up.

Results

A multivariate logistic regression model showed at the beginning of the study that being female (OR = 1.71), living away from home (OR = 1.35) and being a smoker (OR = 1.40) are associated with consumption of medicines. Furthermore, the model shows a significant interaction between risky alcohol use and cannabis consumption (OR = 2.00). The 2-year follow-up shows that only being female (OR = 1.44) and risky alcohol use (OR = 1.36) are associated with the considered dependent variable.

Conclusions

Our results reveal a very high intake of medicines among university students; most of them are without a medical prescription. Probably, this consumption of medicines is another form of poly-consumption of drugs.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Consellería de Innovación e Industria, Xunta de Galicia, grant number PGIDIT05CS021103PR and INCITE 08XIB211015PR, by Plan Nacional sobre Drogas, Ministerio de Salud y Consumo, Spain, grant number 2005/ PN014, and by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain, grant number EDU2008-03440. The authors N. Mota and A. Crego hold a predoctoral scholarship from Consellería de Innovación e Industria, Xunta de Galicia, and from Ministerio de Educación, Spain (grant number AP2006-03871), respectively.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Santiago de Compostela, c/ San Francisco s/n, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Spain

    Francisco Caamaño-Isorna

  2. Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Faculty Psychology, University of Santiago de Compostela, c/ Xosé María Nuñez s/n, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Spain

    Nayara Mota, Alberto Crego, Montserrat Corral, Socorro Rodríguez Holguín & Fernando Cadaveira

Authors
  1. Francisco Caamaño-Isorna
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  2. Nayara Mota
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  3. Alberto Crego
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  4. Montserrat Corral
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  5. Socorro Rodríguez Holguín
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  6. Fernando Cadaveira
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francisco Caamaño-Isorna.

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Caamaño-Isorna, F., Mota, N., Crego, A. et al. Consumption of medicines, alcohol, tobacco and cannabis among university students: a 2-year follow-up. Int J Public Health 56, 247–252 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-010-0204-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-010-0204-x

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