Cognition improvement strategies, study behaviors and stress among medical students of Dow University of Health Sciences: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: To determine the effects of cognition improvement strategies on academic performance, stress and sleep quality of medical students. Method: The cross-sectional study was conducted att he Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, from March 2019 to March 2020, and comprised medical students regardless of gender and academic year. Academic performance was assessed through grade point average, while stress and sleep were assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Data was analysed using SPSS 25. Result: Of the 770 subjects, 748(97%) formed the final sample with mean age 20.32±1.49 years; 619(82.7%) females and 129(17.2%) males. Overall, there were 655(87.6%) consumers of cognitive enhancers and 93(12.4%) non-cunsumers. The mean Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score of consumers was 6.05±3.306, while that of non-consumers was 5.80±3.701. The respective mean Perceived Stress Scale scores were 21.18±6.09 and 20.5±6.8. There was no significant association of consumption of cognitive enhancers with academic performance and stress levels (p>0.05), but it was significant with sleep quality (p<0.05). Conclusion: Majority of the students were found to be consuming cognitive enhancers, but no significant association of the stimulants was found with either academic performance or stress.

Cognitive Enhancers Consumption: Prevalence, Knowledge, and Determinants of use among medical students in Egypt, Sudan, and Jordan. A multicentric cross-sectional study

“…Our survey revealed that 88.3% of medical students in three countries (Egypt, Jordan, and Sudan) had consumed at least one substance considered a CE during their studies. A similar prevalence of CE use (87.6%) was observed in Pakistan (24). Interestingly, our study showed that females consumed CE more often than men (60.8% vs. 39.2%) which aligns with another study conducted in Poland (10).…”

Do Medical Universities Students Use Cognitive Enhancers while Learning?—Conclusions from the Study in Poland

“…Our survey revealed that 53% of medical and dentistry students used at least one substance considered as CEs during their studies. In other countries, the prevalence of CE use was lower, e.g., 32% in Portugal [ 18 ], and higher, e.g., 87.6% in Pakistan [ 10 ], than in our study. Even excluding from the consideration students using only caffeine, almost 42% of our respondents used at least one other CE.…”

“…An important factor influencing the decision was knowing someone who had used these kinds of drugs [ 27 ]. Ashraf Jahangeer et al [ 10 ] noticed a similar tendency that men used the CEs more often than women, but differences were not so significant.…”

“…Some authors found a significant relationship between the use of CEs and stress levels. Different studies have shown that in the pre-exam period, the consumption of CEs increased, as well as the intake of caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol [ 10 , 11 ]. As we also reported in our other study [ 12 ], Medical and Dentistry students estimated their stress levels as high (67.5% and 75.5%, respectively).…”