Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35400066›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in public health2022

The Prevalence of Pharmacological Neuroenhancement Among University Students Before and During the COVID-19-Pandemic: Results of Three Consecutive Cross-Sectional Survey Studies in Germany.

Pavel Dietz, Antonia M Werner, Jennifer L Reichel, Markus Schäfer, Lina M Mülder, Manfred Beutel, Perikles Simon, Stephan Letzel, Sebastian Heller

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Article in Frontiers in public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

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4citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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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

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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

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. [Performance-related substance use in everyday life and work].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2026
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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Pavel DietzInstitute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
Antonia M WernerDepartment of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
Jennifer L ReichelInstitute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
Markus SchäferDepartment of Communication, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
Lina M MülderDepartment of Work, Organizational and Business Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
Manfred BeutelDepartment of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
Perikles SimonDepartment of Sports Medicine, Rehabilitation and Disease Prevention, Institute of Sport Science, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
Stephan LetzelInstitute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
Sebastian HellerInstitute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: According to the literature, the conditions of studying and living as well as the psychological, social and health behavior-related variables, which were strongly related to pharmacological neuroenhancement (PN) before the pandemic, significantly changed during the pandemic. For this reason, it is expected that the prevalence of PN among university students is higher during the pandemic compared to before the pandemic. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate and compare the prevalence of PN among university students before and during the COVID-19-pandemic. Methods: Three online surveys assessing the 12-month prevalence of PN were conducted among university students at the University of Mainz, Germany. The first survey took place in summer term 2019 (before the pandemic), the second in summer term 2020 (during the first German lockdown), and the third in summer term 2021 (after the second German lockdown). Pearson's chi-square test was used to test whether the 12-month prevalence of PN differed significantly between the three surveys. Results: The 12-month prevalence of PN was 10.4% in 2019, 11.3% in 2020, and 8.0% in 2021. Chi-square tests revealed no statistical difference in the prevalence of PN between 2019 and 2020. Overall, the use of PN was lower in 2021 compared to 2019 ( Discussion: The decrease in the prevalence of PN of around three percentage points in 2021 compared to the previous years was a surprising finding. It may be mainly due to the decrease in the prevalence of cannabis for the purpose of PN. However, the fairly high prevalence of PN of around 8% in 2021 is still an important finding that demonstrates that there is still an urgent need for prevention initiatives among university students to combat the use of PN.

Indexed as

CannabisCOVID-19Communicable Disease ControlCross-Sectional StudiesGermanyHumansPandemicsPrevalenceStudentsUniversitiesbrain dopingcollegeepidemiologyneuroenhancement (NE)university

Identifiers

PMID35400066
PMCPMC8987232

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