Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29656665›Full record

ArticleThe American journal of psychiatry2018

Prevalence and Correlates of Prescription Stimulant Use, Misuse, Use Disorders, and Motivations for Misuse Among Adults in the United States.

Wilson M Compton, Beth Han, Carlos Blanco, Kimberly Johnson, Christopher M Jones

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The American journal of psychiatry, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 102 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
102citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
10.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

102 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 261 citations in OpenAlex.

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  10. [Performance-related substance use in everyday life and work].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2026
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42 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Wilson M ComptonFrom the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, Md.; and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, Md.
Beth HanFrom the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, Md.; and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, Md.
Carlos BlancoFrom the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, Md.; and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, Md.
Kimberly JohnsonFrom the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, Md.; and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, Md.
Christopher M JonesFrom the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, Md.; and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, Md.
National Institute on Drug Abuse · US

Funding

Intramural NIH HHS Z99 DA999999
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe authors sought to simultaneously examine the prevalence and correlates of prescription stimulant use, misuse, use disorders, and motivations for misuse in the U.S. adult population.

methodThis was a nationally representative household population study of adults age 18 or older from the 2015 and 2016 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (N=102,000). Measurements included prescription stimulant use, use without misuse, misuse without use disorders, and misuse with use disorders, as well as sociodemographic characteristics, health conditions, and mental health factors.

resultsAmong U.S. adults, 6.6% (annual average) used prescription stimulants overall; 4.5% used without misuse, 1.9% misused without use disorders, and 0.2% had use disorders. Adults with past-year prescription stimulant use disorders did not differ from those with misuse without use disorders in any of the examined sociodemographic characteristics and in many of the examined substance use problems. The most commonly reported motivations for misuse were to help be alert or concentrate (56.3%). The most likely source of misused prescription stimulants was by obtaining them free from friends or relatives (56.9%). More frequent prescription stimulant misuse and use disorder were associated with an increased likelihood of obtaining medications from physicians or from drug dealers or strangers and less likelihood of obtaining them from friends or relatives.

conclusionsApproximately 16.0 million U.S. adults used prescription stimulants in the preceding year (annual average), 5.0 million misused prescription stimulants, and 0.4 million had use disorders. Cognitive enhancement was the most commonly reported reason for misusing prescription stimulants. Patients who are using their medication for cognitive enhancement or diverting their medication to others present a high risk.

Indexed as

MotivationAdolescentAdultCentral Nervous System StimulantsFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPrescription Drug MisusePrevalenceRisk FactorsSubstance-Related DisordersSurveys and QuestionnairesUnited StatesYoung AdultCentral Nervous System StimulantsCNS StimulantsEpidemiologyPsychoactive Substance Use Disorder

Identifiers

PMID29656665
PMCPMC6070393
OpenAlexW2802193340

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.