Abstract

Objective: To determine prevalence of use of psychostimulants among medical students in a private medical college in Karachi and to assess the association of their intake and other independent variables with the examination grades of the students.
Methodology: This cross-sectional survey was conducted from April to July, 2018, on 299 medical students from 1st to 4th year MBBS. A semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire was used. Purposive sampling technique was employed for recruitment of the students.
Results: Out of 299 students, 57.5% used psychostimulants, mostly for duration of 1-5 years. Caffeine was the most commonly used psychostimulants, followed by nicotine. Most of them used them to stay alert and aroused during their exams. Students studying in 3rd year were using psychostimulants more often compared to other years. We did not find any associations between psychostimulant use and their impact on students’ grades. Increase in the student's age and being a female increased the marks of the students, with each year increase of year of education, there was a decrease in student’s marks.
Conclusion: This study suggests the interplay of factors other than psychostimulants in the academic grades of medical students. As students grew older, their grades decreased, being a female increased marks more compared to being a male student.

Key words: Psychostimulant, Medical students, Academic grades, Cross sectional survey, Pakistan.