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Revista de Enfermagem Referência
ISSN 0874-0283 ISSN 2182-2883
COSTA, Xavier Taboada; DIEZ LIEBANA, María José PIMENTEL, Maria Helena. Use of the main psychoactive drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic among higher education students. []. , serVI, 2, 1, e22031. 19--2023. ISSN 0874-0283. https://doi.org/10.12707/rvi22031.
Background:
The higher education student population has a special risk of use and abuse of psychoactive drugs.
Objective:
To analyze the use of psychoactive drugs in higher education students and their relationship with the sociodemographic variables and the COVID-19 pandemic onset.
Methodology:
An analytical, observational, and cross-sectional study was conducted. Data were collected through a questionnaire applied after the first semester of the 2020/2021 school year to 8875 students of the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança from Portugal. A stratified sample of 825 participants for each of the five schools.
Results:
Alcohol and tobacco are the most used and abused substances due to the practice of binge drinking/smoking. Psychoactive and recreational drugs are less used. Use is affected by sociodemographic variables: gender, age, school, chronic diseases, and parents’ education/occupation. During the pandemic COVID-19, students perceive an increase in use except for alcohol.
Conclusion:
The use of psychoactive drugs in higher education students is affected by sociodemographic variables and the COVID-19 pandemic.
: psychotropic drugs; students; higher education; COVID-19.
