Use of Legal and Illegal Substances and Their Impact on the Academic Performance of Medical University Students

Abstract

Objective: This study will analyze the effects of the most common substances in medical students and their impact on their academic performance. Method: 328 medical students were interviewed between April 2019 to March 2020 for this study. In this cross-sectional study, information regarding substance use habits among medical students was obtained through a survey. The information was obtained through a questionnaire that is made up of 6 pages with the following sections: Registration, consumption of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, medication to improve academic performance and energy drinks. Results: The results in this investigation were the following: the use of alcohol showed that it has a low relevance in influencing the performance of the students (p=0.702), the use of marijuana showed that it has a low relevance in the performance (p= 0.527), the use of cocaine showed that it has a low relevance in influencing academic performance (p=0.560), the use of medications showed that they have a high relevance in influencing academic performance (p=0.001), the use of energy drinks showed that they have a low relevance in influencing the performance of medical students (p=0.346). Conclusions: The use of substances among university students has been increasing over the years, the importance of understanding this phenomenon and its repercussions on students can help prevent addictions, school dropouts and even deaths from overdoses, as described in various literatures.