Misperceptions of non-medical prescription drug use: A web survey of college students

Abstract

Objectives This study compared undergraduate students' perceived versus actual prevalence rates of non-medical use of marijuana, prescription opioids and prescription stimulants. Methods In 2005, a randomly selected sample of 3639 college students self-administered a Web survey regarding their substance use behaviors and attitudes (68% response rate). Results The majority of undergraduate students overestimated the prevalence of non-medical use of prescription stimulants (70.2%) and prescription opioids (69.9%) and marijuana use (50.5%) among peers on their campus. The mean difference between perceived versus actual past-year use was considerably greater for non-medical use of prescription stimulants (mean difference = 12.2, 95% CI = 11.7–12.7) and prescription opioids (mean difference = 8.8, 95% CI = 8.3–9.2) than marijuana (mean difference = 2.9, 95% CI = 2.2–3.6). Multivariate regression analysis revealed overestimation of non-medical use of prescription drugs was significantly associated with gender and medical use of prescription drugs. Conclusions The findings provided strong evidence of misperception of non-medical prescription drug use among college students. Future research and prevention efforts should assess the impact of correcting misperceived norms on reducing non-medical prescription drug use.