title: Novel psychoactive substances in young adults with and without psychiatric comorbidities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Comorbidities between psychiatric diseases and consumption of traditional substances of abuse (alcohol, cannabis, opioids, and cocaine) are common. Nevertheless, there is no data regarding the use of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) in the psychiatric population. The purpose of this multicentre survey is to investigate the consumption of a wide variety of psychoactive substances in a young psychiatric sample and in a paired sample of healthy subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire has been administered, in different Italian cities, to 206 psychiatric patients aged 18 to 26 years and to a sample of 2615 healthy subjects matched for sex, gender, and living status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Alcohol consumption was more frequent in the healthy young population compared to age-matched subjects suffering from mental illness (79.5% versus 70.7%; P < 0.003). Conversely, cocaine and NPS use was significantly more common in the psychiatric population (cocaine 8.7% versus 4.6%; P = 0.002) (NPS 9.8% versus 3%; P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of novel psychoactive substances in a young psychiatric population appears to be a frequent phenomenon, probably still underestimated. Therefore, careful and constant monitoring and accurate evaluations of possible clinical effects related to their use are necessary.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University "G. d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martinotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University "G. d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3183-0096
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lupi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University "G. d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Tiziano
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Acciavatti
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University "G. d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8903-181X
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cinosi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University "G. d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1377-9183
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Santacroce
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Molecular Biomedicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Salvina
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Signorelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences DIBINEM, Bologna University, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bandini
authors.affiliation: Roma Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3563-7509
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lisi
authors.affiliation: Section of Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Messina University, Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6051-8309
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Quattrone
authors.affiliation: Catanzaro University, Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ciambrone
authors.affiliation: University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aguglia
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3108-9509
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pinna
authors.affiliation: SPDC, Vito Fazzi, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Calò
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry and Psychology, Catholic University Medical School, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Janiri
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Imaging, University "G. d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: di Giannantonio
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015897:Comorbidity; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs