Summit AG, Moseley MC, Chaku N, Elam KK, Jacobs W, Lederer AM, et al. Prevalence of pharmacotherapy for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and prescription stimulant misuse: A national study of US college students. Addiction. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.16716
The authors of this study examined 224,469 college students aged 18-25 from 395 universities between the Fall of 2019 and the Fall of 2022.
Measures were lifetime ADHD diagnosis, past-year ADHD medication treatment, and past-3-mont prescription stimulant misuse.
Secondary outcomes were life-time prescription stimulant misuse and moderate to high-risk alcohol and cannabis use.
The results included the following:
- 9.6% reported a lifetime ADHD diagnosis;
- 5.1% reported past-year medication treatment, and
- 2.4% reported past-3-month prescription stimulant misuse.
The authors stated,
…prevalence of Prescription Stimulant Misuse was 7% relatively greater for every 1% increase in university-level medication prevalence.
They concluded that:
Among university students in the United States, there appears to be a positive association between attending universities with a greater prevalence of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication treatment and risk of prescription stimulant misuse (PSM). This study provides further support for the possibility that ADHD medication treatment prevalence is a risk factor for PSM.
And they summarized by saying:
The present study demonstrates that students attending universities with greater ADHD medication treatment prevalence were more likely to misuse prescription stimulants.
