Motives for prescription stimulant use by patterns of non-medical use

ABSTRACT

Background: Understanding motivations behind non-medical use of prescription stimulants (NMUPS) is important to prevent such use.

Methods: Adult participants from St. Louis, MO, who endorsed NMUPS on 5 or more days in the past 12 months (n = 60) were asked about their motivations for use. Associations between motives for use and patterns of non-medical use in the past 12 months were assessed using multivariable logistic regression, controlling for demographic factors and non-medical use of other prescription drugs.

Results: On average, 5.5 different motives for stimulant use were endorsed. Compared to those who only used someone else’s stimulants, adults who only used stimulants other than prescribed were less likely to endorse use “to get high” (aOR = 0.48, 95%CI 0.26–0.90) and more likely to endorse use “to function” (aOR = 1.97, 95%CI 1.04–3.75); adults who were engaged in both patterns of NMUPS were more likely to endorse use “to function” (aOR = 4.12, 95%CI 1.56–10.88) and “to modify the effects of other drugs” (aOR = 2.29, 95%CI 1.13–4.61).

Conclusion: Although using stimulants for performance enhancement is common, most people who used diverted stimulants reported using stimulants to get high. Prevention and harm reduction strategies should consider these differences.

KEYWORDS:

• Prescription stimulants
• motives
• non-medical use
• prescription medications

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the participants of this study without whose support this study would not have been possible.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

Funding provided by R01-DA020791, Cottler (PI). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official view of the NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse.