Consumption of medicines and drugs among college students: ten years of follow-up

Abstract

Substance abuse and self-medication in adolescents and young adults are a major public health concern. With the objective of studying the prevalence of consumption of medicines and its association with alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use among university Spanish students, we carried out a cohort study among university students between November 2005 and March 2015. Consumption of alcohol was measured using the Alcohol use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), after assessing its validity. Multilevel logistic regressions for repeated measures were generated to obtain adjusted odds ratios. Our study has revealed that prevalence of binge drinking, risky alcohol consumption, and tobacco and cannabis use had a significant reduction during the follow-up period, while use of medicines without medical prescription increased. Our results have shown a strong association between use of medicines without prescription with alcohol and cannabis use. Education for health and preventive activities should be reinforced in youth to decrease these high levels of poly-consumption. Strategies for handling stress during university should be provided, with greater emphasis on females.