Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29904251›Full record

ArticleHippokratia

Prevalence of illicit drug use among medical students in Northern Greece and association with smoking and alcohol use.

G Papazisis, I Tsakiridis, I Koulas, S Siafis, T Dagklis, D Kouvelas

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Hippokratia. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

7citing papers in PubMed

1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 15% 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

7 citing papers in PubMed, 23 citations in OpenAlex.

Investigating the prevalence of tobacco or other substance use (TOSU) and associated factors among the medical students: a nationwide cross-sectional survey from Bangladesh.BMC public health · 2026
Article
The Effectiveness of Universal Educational Interventions for Prevention of Illicit Drug Use among University Students: A Systematic Review.Iranian journal of public health · 2024
Review
Anxious, depressed: Should medical schools screen their students?Journal of advances in medical education & professionalism · 2021
Article
Prevalence and Perceptions of Illicit Substance Use Amongst Medical Students.MedEdPublish (2016) · 2021
Article
COVID-19 pandemic and physicians in training.Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology · 2020
Article
Nonmedical Use of Prescription Drugs among Medical Students and the Relationship With Illicit Drug, Tobacco, and Alcohol Use.Substance abuse : research and treatment · 2018
Article
Cannabis use in a sample of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki students: a pilot cross-sectional study.Hippokratia
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

G PapazisisDepartment of Clinical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

I Tsakiridis3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

I KoulasDepartment of Clinical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

S SiafisDepartment of Clinical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

T Dagklis3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

D KouvelasDepartment of Clinical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki · GR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimThe aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of illicit drug use among medical students in Northern Greece, to identify the motivations for cannabis use and also to investigate the possible associations with smoking and alcohol misuse.

methodsA sample of undergraduate students completed an anonymous, self-administered, web-based survey assessing lifetime and past-year illicit substance use. To further evaluate the motivation to use, the responders were classified into three subtypes (self-medication, recreational, and mixed). The CAGE questionnaire and a question assessing binge drinking were also used. Illicit substance use was correlated with age, gender, study year, CAGE and binge drinking.

resultsFive hundred and ninety-one undergraduate medical students completed the survey. The lifetime prevalence of illicit drug use was 24.7 %, while the most used drug was cannabis (22.2 %). The past-month prevalence of cannabis use was 8.1 %. Experimentation was the predominant reported motivation for its use, and the recreational subtype was the most prevalent. Binge drinking behavior was reported by 22.7 % of the sample, and the CAGE screening test was positive for 6.4 % of the students. Most students (80.4 %) characterized themselves as non-smokers. In the multivariate analysis, lifetime use of illicit drugs was significantly correlated with smoking and binge drinking. No associations were found with gender, age, study year or CAGE.

conclusionSmoking and binge drinking were found to be risk factors for illicit drug use, whereas no association was found with gender, age, study year and CAGE. HIPPOKRATIA 2017, 21(1): 13-18.

Indexed as

alcoholcannabisIllicit drugsmedical studentsprevalencesmoking

Identifiers

PMID29904251

PMCPMC5997020

OpenAlexW2983057429

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

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.