title: Patterns of non-medical use of methylphenidate among 5th and 6th year students in a medical school in southern Brazil.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the prevalence of methylphenidate (MPH) use among 5th and 6th year medical students, to discriminate MPH use with and without medical indication, and to correlate MPH use with alcohol intake.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a cross-sectional study in which medical students were invited to answer a questionnaire to evaluate academic and socioeconomic status, MPH use patterns, and attitudes towards neuroenhancing drugs. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) was used to assess alcohol intake; a score ≥ 8 suggests potentially hazardous alcohol use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-two participants (34.2%) had already used MPH, of which 35 (23.02%) had used it without medical indication. The number of 6th year students who had used MPH was more than twice higher than that of their 5th year counterparts (32.89 vs. 13.15%, respectively; p = 0.004). Also, 43.6% (p = 0.031) of the users of MPH had an AUDIT score ≥ 8; 33.3% (p = 0.029) of non-medical users of MPH had an AUDIT score ≥ 8.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, the use of MPH without medical indication was prevalent. Our findings also confirmed the association between non-medical use of MPH and potentially hazardous alcohol use.
authors.affiliation: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo da Rosa
authors.initials: Rda R
authors.lastname: Silveira
authors.affiliation: PUCRS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Betina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lejderman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, PUCRS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Pedro Eugênio Mazzucchi Santana
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, PUCRS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gibsi Maria Possapp da
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Rocha