8. Revista Salud Bosque - Cosecha
Non-medicated use of Modafinil among Medical Students of a University in the City of Cartagena, Colombia
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Resumen
Introduction: Modafinil is a drug approved for excessive sleepiness associated with narcolepsy, shift work disorder and obstructive sleep apnea; however, healthy people in different social settings also consume it, with university students among those most prone to non-medicated uses of this drug. Objective: To determine the prevalence and patterns of use, knowledge, perceptions and unwanted effects of mo- dafinil in students of a medicine program at a university in the city of Cartagena - Colombia. Methods: Prevalence study on a sample of 269 students from a medicine program. An instrument was designed, validated and applied to characterize the non-medicated use of modafinil. A descriptive analysis was performed and group comparison was performed using the chi-square test with a significance level of 0.05. Results: 6.7% (n=18; CI95%: 3.7 - 9.7) of the subjects have consumed modafinil without a medical prescription, presenting in most cases some unwanted effect. The beginning of use occurred mainly for exams during the third academic semester seeking to increase intellectual capacity and/or stay awake. There is little knowledge about the medical use of the drug. Conclusion: The prevalence of non-medicated modafinil use in medical students at this institution was low, consis- tent with other studies on similar populations.