Uso de substâncias psicoativas lícitas por estudantes de enfermagem

Abstract

Chemical dependence is one of the major public health problems, and this dependence includes both licit and illicit substances. Licit drugs, despite being legally allowed and accepted by society can also cause dependence, and physical and psychological damage. Th is paper aims to identify the pattern of use of psychoactive substances among college students considered to be licit by students from a nursing course. Th is is a descriptive and exploratory quantitative research conducted among nursing students of CESVA, located in the city of Valença. We used a non-probability sample of 30% of students who answered a questionnaire about the usage of legal drugs. Although most students consider themselves well informed about the consequences of using this type of drug, the results pointed to the following pattern of consumption: alcohol (93,2%), tobacco (59,1%), tranquilizers and anxiolytics (31,8%), amphetamines and slimming drugs (22,7%), opiates (20,5%), antidepressants (20,5%), barbiturates and sedatives (15,9%), anabolic steroids (2,3%). It is noteworthy that alcohol consumption began very early, during adolescence, whereas consumption of antidepressants started a little bit later, but also in adolescence time, showing that the academic life was not the precursor of this consumption. The study showed a worrying reality of alcohol and other legal drugs usage among nursing students and the need for programs aimed at the education and awareness of these future health professionals.

Keywords

• Legal drugs
• nursing students
• consumption pattern